Frozen Tears
by tears of the cold moon
Summary: Sequel to Silver Tears. Naruto now builds a Team with Sakura and Saskue that the worls has yet to see and they are sent to Mist. But a new enemy approaches. She is now hunted by more than only her fellings for Gaara, who she meets again. Together with her team she confronts her past and faces a situation, which will change the world for all of them. Fem!Naruto/Gaara ANBUNaruto
1. Prologue

So this is the prologue of Frozen tears. Thank you for reading the second part of the tears-triology. have fun

i don't own naruto.

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„Is that all you've got?" She asked not even the least bit exhausted. The dust settled again and the viewers could now see a very heavy panting Ino. Her violet outfit was dirty and in her face and on her arms were various scratches.

"Not at all." She spat out and rushed forward aiming for Naruto. The ANBU wore a long sleeved, jade-green pullover, which went until the middle of her thighs. Under that tight black pants until her knees and long brown boots.

As Ino came closer, she just side stepped and the blonde's attack was ineffective. Instead her arm was gripped by Naruto, she was thrown around and landed on her back.

This was going on for already half an hour. It was almost nightfall.

Today early in the afternoon Naruto had met Sakura and Ino practising some moves from a scroll they received from Asuma, but were having some difficulties. As she watched the two, Sakura noticed her and called her.

_-flashback-_

"_Hey Naruto, come over." Naruto and Sakura hadn't met much since they returned from Sand a month ago but they had been out for lunch and shopping a few times and Naruto called her a good friend now. So she walked over to them and hugged Sakura for greetings. _

"_How are you Sakura?" She asked, not using any suffix such as -chan. This was her way to show that she took her serious. Sakura was surprised at first and also a bit hurt when Naruto didn't return her sign of affection but she was proud when she heard the explanation. Naruto's style of thinking infected her as well and she matured a bit more and got over fussing about Sasuke completely, though she still loved him._

"_I'm fine, we were just practising some stuff of the scroll we received from Asuma-sensei. This is my best friend Yamanaka Ino." She introduced the blonde girl._

"_Nice to meet you Yamanaka-san, my name's Uzumaki Naruto." They exchanged a friendly hand shake but the Naruto looked at Sakura serious._

"_How's the training working out? You seem pretty tired." _

"_Well it's a bit difficult since we have no one to tell us what we are doing wrong or right and the scroll isn't very detailed." She sighed. "This might take another week to finally get the basics. To use it in combat is still in far away future."_

"_Yeah, I really didn't like that scroll as well, when it was given to me, but the moves are great and you can use them in almost every fight, since they are pretty effective." Ino gaped at the girl._

"_You are able to perform them?" She asked. Sakura looked at Naruto, not really surprised. Of course one of the Konoha ANBU could do this stuff._

"_Well, yes. They are required to become a Jounin so..." The blue eyed girl looked a bit uncomfortable since her being an ANBU should be kept secret and so she had to be careful._

"_You're a Jounin? How old are you? You are about as old as us and most of our generation barely made it Chuunin last year." Sakura knew Naruto's concern._

"_Well, she's a few months younger than me, she'll turn 16 in October. But she is a natural talent. And very skilled." Ino wasn't really satisfied but she nodded. Maybe she should test this so-called genious. _

"_Can you help us with our training then?" She asked innocently. She smirked when the other hesitated._

"_Actually I was going to go home to change and train a bit myself later." _

"_Well, yes I see... so you can't help us." This was definitely a challenge. _

"_Fine, meet me at 8 pm at training ground 23." Ino squealed._

"_This late?" Sakura rolled her eyes._

"_I'll be there, see you later Naruto." As Ino watched the "Jounin" walk away she wondered if the girl was really what she said she was. But maybe she should go and train with her, Sakura at least seemed to think highly of her._

_Naruto smiled as she waved and walked away, but it was a bit forced. Ino was the kind of person who seemed to find out everything sooner or later._

_-flashback end-_

In the evening she had trained some of her Nin-jutsu before the girls arrived. When Sakura and Ino finally came they had brought Sasuke and the rest of team 8 with them. Shikamaru and Chouji weren't very interested in the training session at first, but when it was obvious that Naruto had founded knowledge they listened as well. Naruto explained every move from the start, let them do everything in slow motion and noticed every mistake. After only half an hour both kunoichi were sweating and panting.

That was when Ino cracked. For one she was pissed to be treated like a newbie and she hated the way she now looked in front of Sasuke. She complained.

And when Naruto stayed perfectly relaxed she wanted to fight her.

_Flashback_

"_You think you are so great don't you? I really don't believe you are such a strong Jounin. You're only a liar!" Naruto gave her a pitiful look but deep inside she ached to punch the girl into the face._

"_I want to fight you. Are you brave enough?" Ino asked. The viewers looked surprised. Sasuke and Sakura sighed after the overcame the shock and shook their heads. Chouji cheered for Ino of course and Shikamaru lifted his head slightly._

"_I don't know if that is a good idea. You might-"_

"_You afraid?" Ino interrupted her. _

_That was when the fight started._

_Flashback end_

And now Ino was finished, but it didn't look like she learned anything.

Sakura approached her to help her but she just slapped away her hand.

"I don't need that." Silence fell over the clearing. Sakura looked slightly hurt but then shook her head and walked towards Naruto. Sasuke joined them as well and then team 8 saw what Kakashi saw on the journey to sand. A team. They fit together greatly. And they were shaken by the image they saw. Somehow they knew this team could easily take on them.

The scene was disturbed when suddenly a cloaked figure with a white porcelain mask appeared. An ANBU. Team 8 looked extremely surprised and even a bit anxious, while the others seemed to be as relaxed as before.

The ANBU kneeled.

"Naruto-sama, the Hokage requests you. Please bring Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura as well."

She nodded.

"You may go." She turned to look at team 7. "Seems like something serious. Shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's. Isn't that great? We'll go on a mission together again." Sakura asked and Naruto smiled.

"Yes, I will definitely enjoy working with you."

Little did they know that this would lead them towards something we wouldn't want them to experience.

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I hope you enjoyed it. just to make it clear: i don't hate ino but i hate fangirls so this is my style to get her serious. please don't kill me.

a merry christmas to you all, i hope you liked my present for you ^^

cold moon


	2. Chapter 1

Hello everyone who isn't fed up with my lack of updating! Thank you.

I got some very inspiring reviews lately, so I felt I can actually do this! I have a plan so let's see how far I get.

Know that I am very sorry, for taking two(!) years. I feel horrible. The plot for this part of my Tear-triology is now picking up. Let's rock! Please enjoy :)

I don't own Naruto.

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Frozen Tears - chapter 1

The Hokage's office was a place where Naruto knew every detail by heart. May it be the old wooden desk or the fading map of all nations on the wall. And she knew the old man sitting in the comfy chair in his stainless white and red robe. She had been there, standing in front of him, countless times. Had sat on the ground just watching him doing his paperwork and fell asleep in the evening by the sound of the stamp and the brush on the paper. When she had been crying on his lap when the villagers destroyed her and she had thrown a chair into the wall when he told her about her parents. She still saw the crack there.

So because of this Naruto wasn't really nervous being there. The voice of the Hokage though, had a pretty serious touch to it.

"So the council finally agreed to a new idea of mine. I had this concept going in my head for a long time, actually and I understand the difficulties and the potential for conflicts in this." The Hokage didn't smile this day. His face was dead serious.

"All of you know the three legendary Sannin, right?" Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto nodded. Naruto leaned against the wall next to the seal she just placed on the wall. A seal making it impossible for anyone outside to listen to the conversation. Sasuke sat on one of the visitor chairs, right beside Sakura, carefully paying attention.

"Of course we do. Anyone does. They are famous far outside the borders of the fire-country." Sakura said.

"Indeed, and that's exactly what I am aiming for." Naruto looked up and saw a spark in the old man's eyes. "You also know about Akatsuki and there are rumours about conflicts in certain countries." They all nodded. Since Sasuke and Sakura knew Naruto they knew much more than regular Chuunin.

"I'll say, this is an experiment, but I want you to know that I'd really appreciate it, if it works out. It took me long hours of thinking and talking with the right people. What I want is a new Generation of Sannin. And finally I selected those who I think are capable of that."

XXX

They were leaving an hour later. It was a spy mission and the main task was to leave absolutely no trace that it was Konoha spying. They should go to Rock and see about the current situation there.

Naruto had been fairly surprised after she heard of the old man's idea. New Sanin. She couldn't really see it work out. She and the other two had only completed one mission together, they weren't a team like the old generation was. She wondered how he came to select especially them. It could have also been a older and more experienced team.

All of them had impressive talents though. Sakura was becoming a great medic because right after they returned from sand Tsunade took Sakura in. The woman returned with her husband Dan from a training trip and when Naruto met her, she immediately agreed to take 'a talented, clever and strong chuunin with already basic medical knowledge'. Even after a short period of time Sakura definitely improved a lot. Everything she was taught, she absorbed like a sponge.

Sasuke was learning with Kakashi and his older brother. Before the trip to Suna, Itachi had been very obsessed with leading the clan and the police of Konoha, but one day Naruto spent a visit on tea.

_Flashback_

"_So what brings you here today?" He had asked, fairly surprised, because they lost touch when he ended his career in ANBU. "You surely want to beg on your knees for your senior to return." _

_She laughed and like every other person, Itachi smiled at the bell-like sound._

"_No, certainly not. There's no place in my squad for a stuck-up Uchiha."_

"_I still remember the times when you were only dreaming on calling yourself a full-fledged ANBU and as soon as I am gone they make you even captain. What happened to them, who used to call themselves merciless?" He sighed._

"_Well it's not like you just left yesterday. This was four years ago, so stop complaining. But I came here to discuss another thing." He noticed her serious tone._

"_I was wondering what happened to the Uchiha who proclaimed to lead his clan a better way than his father did?" This certainly surprised him._

"_What do you mean?" His pride was already on the edge of being stained and Naruto knew it would be just a bit more and he would snap._

"_Well, I have been in Suna for a mission lately. Basically it should have been a diplomatic mission with me delivering a scroll to the Kazekage and chatting a bit. It ended in almost a civil war and an attack from outside of the village. I was very glad to have a team accompanying me."_

"_What are you aiming for?"_

"_The team proved to be excellent... "_

"_... So?"_

"_So I think you should spent a bit more time with your little brother."_

"_You know I am very busy... and-"_

"_Stop it. You know better than that. He is your brother and doesn't have a father any more. He really looks up to you. And he has great potential. With the right care he and his teammate could be in ANBU in three years."_

"_You think so?" The silence was kept for a long time._

"_Yes, I do. Don't let his talent go to waste"_

_Flashback end_

He really improved she thought, well both of them had. The one became a better shinobi, the other a better brother.

So she was happy to go on a mission with them, they were very nice. Even though she doubted that there actually could be a new generation of sannin.

In Konoha's history had been a few very powerful and famous people. Of course the first Hokage who defeated Madara and built Konoha, his brother the second Hokage was responsible for giving the village an infrastructure and was the teacher of another famous one, who was just called "The Professor". There were others, maybe Konoha's white fang and his son the infamous copy-nin Kakashi. Of course Itachi, too. And above all of them The Yellow Flash.

But those of this kind were very rare. One in every generation. Then how seldom is it to have a whole team of them?

XXX

Her oppinion changed within the next two months. She was surprised how well the missions went that they completed together. In any situation they came up with amazing plans and tactics to solve a lot of situations. Sakura always took the time afterwards to write them down. It soon was a large collection of scrolls with techniques for ambush, open fighting, spying and so on. The pink haired girl was positive that some of them would end up in the academy books.

Naruto was spending much more time with the two Chunin and soon she got into problems with her ANBU-squad. They felt left behind. It became very difficult for Naruto to deal with both ANBU duties and team 7 missions and Yuzuka was the first to complain. The girls ended up on not speaking with each other for a whole week. The climate had been frosty.

Soon Naruto had been fed up with the way things went and called a squad meeting. It had taken Naruto and Yuzuka some time to re-bond, but after the blue-haired woman learned from Neji how hard her captain tried to make it all happen. On top of the regular missions they went on, she went with team 7 in her time off. None of the squad could imagine how tired they would be. Basically it meant short term ones at night and at day. She used the three day break after longer missions to go on another one. So instead of keeping on complaining the ANBU worked on including team 7 in their free time, so Naruto would spent the little time she had the best and happiest way.

Today team 7 was on a mission, too. They had to deal with unidentified ninja within the fire country borders. It wasn't known yet from which village they were from.

Sakura had the lead today and was chatting in relaxed manner while travelling.

"So, do you think we can also go to the Chunin exams? I would love to see it." Sasuke was the one to answer.

"Probably not. When so many good ninja are leaving the village to accompany the Hokage and the participants, we are to stay at home for sure." Sakura sighed.

"That's unfair! It's the first time within decades that the event is happening in Mist. I always wanted to visit it and now that it's peace... Have you ever been there, Naruto?" The blonde wasn't replying. In her mind were bloodstained snowflakes and ice reflecting her own cruelty.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked in worry.

"Yes I have. And I really hope that it will work out the right way this time." By now, Sakura was intelligent enough to notice Naruto wouldn't talk about it. She dropped the subject and they kept the silence until they were approaching their targets.

Sakura was quite comfortable with Naruto already. The blonde had a few very touchy subjects, but after she made that clear to them, they understood and stopped pressing. Sometimes Sasuke and Sakura would notice a certain expression in Naruto's eyes that warned them of going further. They supposed it had to do with experience she made while being on missions. When they tried to talk with Kakashi about it, his answer would always be something avoiding. He had already tried to explain to them that Naruto experienced a lot of hardships at young age and that being an ANBU was sometimes more cruel than a normal ninja could imagine. Sakura was sure herself that she just wouldn't be able to grasp the real amount of horror that came with the job.

Sasuke came to respect Naruto a lot more as well. She was the way he wanted kunoichi to be: Strong, determined, cool-headed and not whiny. After he came over the shock that she was so much better than him, he tried to get along with her and it worked out brilliantly. He learned from his brother that they were former teammates and the respectful way Itachi spokes of her mad Sasuke see her qualities as a shinobi and person. When they were working together, they naturally fell in sync, their movements protecting the other's weaknesses and bringing out their strengths. Part of it Sasuke lead back to her working with Itachi for so long. She knew the Uchiha style and adjusted to Sasuke just as easily. But he was also sure that as a team they made some sort of a connection. It was now like it was supposed to be from the beginning: The empty spot in the four men cell was now filled by her presence.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the loud sound of an explosion. Sakura made a hand sign and they stopped moving.

"It came from this direction", Sasuke said and pointed west. The sun was already approaching the horizon and it was nearly dark in the forest.

"They location we aimed for is a few miles further this way" Sakura noted. "We shouldn't have reached anything yet." Naruto nodded slowly and watched a rabbit run towards its hole, fleeing from the sounds. Her instincts started to kick in and she almost became anxious to know what was happening.

"We should go and take a look." She suggested. At the moment it was in Sakuras hand since she was in charge of the mission, but the pink haired agreed.

Suddenly the earth shook by the force of a huge chakra wave. Sasuke and Sakura had difficulties remaining on their branches. Naruto could still cope more so she stretched her shoulders and tried to feel the signature of the chakra.

It was gone as fast as it came. All of them felt the pressure lift from their lungs and looked at each other surprised. This changed the situation.

"What was that?" As usual Sakura was the first to voice their thoughts. "This wasn't normal." They all agreed with that, but Naruto was also deep in thought.

"It was definitely not a common signature. Normally I can feel from which village a shinobi is from since they mostly have something unique in their structures. But that one..." She paused and gave the others the possibility to comprehend the information and go through the options.

"We should return.", Sakura said. "We have no idea what we will run into."

"We could investigate." Sasuke seemed uncomfortable at the thought of just going back to Konoha, mission unfinished.

"Let our pride not get in the way of better knowledge. We could send a clone, but we shouldn't head right there, I think. The chakra wave was impressive." Naruto opted. Sakura nodded.

"Naruto, if you will?" There was a soft pop and four Narutos stood in the branches, then took of.

"And now, we wait."

xxx

It took half an hour until the first clone dispersed. Naruto's posture tensed, when she adjusted to the flow of information.

"Five miles north from here. A group of eight ninja. I don't recognize the symbol on their headbands. Something like a rock."

"It's not earth's symbol?"

"Definitely not. One of them seems like he's controlling liquid metal. He created something like the water prison jutsu." She paused. "Should I let one of my clones attack to gather more information?", she asked Sakura. The pink haired girl nodded and watched as Naruto created another shadow clones, gave it orders and let it dispel. The clone's memories would go to every Naruto in a five mile radius.

It didn't even take a minute now until they received information again. The ANBU went rigid.

"We need to move! NOW!" Even though Sakura was in charge, no one hesitated a second and bolted.

"What's going on?", Sasuke shouted while jumping from branch to branch. "Have we been spotted?" Naruto nodded.

"Both my clones were slaughtered. If we get in a fight, we are done for."

"How are our chances to loose them?"

"If we continue like this, non-existent." Sakura gasped. "What do we do?" As the team leader this question seemed ridiculous and she scolded herself for almost loosing her head. Nevertheless she couldn't help, but feel slight despair.

"I placed a travel-seal twelve miles from here, just in case. If we get there faster than them, it'll be fine. Can you manage?" She knew Saskue and Sakura's stamina was not comparable to hers. If she felt she could reach the seal didn't mean they could. Twelve miles were not a piece of a cake.

Sasuke nodded, his face grim in concentration. Sakura seemed to run a self-estimation to check her resources.

"I won't be able to keep this pace.", she admitted. She could see their five mile headstart running through their fingers like water, because of her.

"Don't worry." Naruto tried to reassure her, then created several shadow clones. "I'll have them set traps, thy will slow them down some. They will also henge to pose as the team. They will stop for a second to confront them." All of them fell into silence concentrating on not slipping.

They were down to a mile to go, when Sakura collapsed. She lost her footing, causing her to fall. Naruto who was behind her caught her in fall and sped forward without stopping. She ran a few meters on the ground the jumped into the trees again, falling into step next to Sasuke. He briefly shot her a look, Sakura was flung over her shoulder, but she didn't slow down.

They stopped violently, when they reached the seal, a complex collection of characters drawn onto a massive tree. Naruto bit her finger and spread the blood. The kanji started glowing blue and chakra began engulfing the air. She pushed Sakura into Sasuke's arms and then both through the portal. She was about to step through herself, when they entered the clearing. If she went now, they could follow her. The portal was open a minute, so she had to distract them and step through the last possible second. She was already counting in her head. 48. 47. 46.

"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The attack bought her time. 30. 29. 28.

A liquid metal snake made its way through to her. She threw a shuriken at it, only for it to be deflected. 15.

"Earth Style: Continental crack up!" The ground opened right before her and the snake fell into the bottomless pit. 8. 7. 6.

"Interesting girl, but that won't work!" 5. 4. "Platinum style: " 3. "Liquid Prison!" 2. Through the dust of her earth jutsu came a wave of silvery water. 1. She let herself fall back into the portal.

Zero.

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I hope I piqued your curiostity. Thanks for reading :

So, back with more soon I hope. Love, Cold Moon


	3. Chapter 2

Hello again, thank you for all the positive responses on the last chapters, I love you ***

In this chapter is a lot of Team 7 dynamic. Now get to reading, that's what you came for! Please enjoy!

I don't own any Naruto character

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Chapter 2

...

Zero.

And she felt her back push against the wood. For a second she thought it hadn't worked, but then she experienced the peculiar pull, the hundred strings that attached themselves onto her body and dragged it away from the clearing. Away from danger.

She closed her eyes, letting go of the exhaustion and pain. It could have been seconds or years. The blue light around her dulled and she was pushed into the real world once again.

She collapsed onto the damp forest ground in the woods near Konoha. The strain of using her chakra to create the portal held her body tied to the earth. A soft groan escaped her lips, after the blissful nothingness of the time-and-space travel, the hurt was not allowing her to move.

"Naruto?" Sakura's voice was shaky and drowsy, a perfect description of how they all felt.

Sasuke was sitting against a tree, his eyes heavy-lidded.

"I'm okay. I just need a minute." Naruto's vision blurred again for a second. She was low on sugar, she had given her soldier pills to the others along the way, her chakra reserves were in the cellar, though she could already feel Kyuubi healing it up, and her nerves were shattered. It had been quite some time, since she encountered someone so... equal. Belonging to the elite forces mostly meant encountering people weaker than herself, but this people. She could make out the fear that still rested in her bones.

"You don't look okay." Sakura enquired. She was worried. Both her and Sasuke were close to insanity, when Naruto wasn't following them through the portal. They had known it was a one way portal, so there was nothing they could do but wait as the seconds had passed by slowly. Words weren't able to describe the relief they felt right now.

"It's just exhaustion. I had to keep them from following through the portal, so I had to stay there until the very last moment." Satisfied with the answer they all set to catching their breaths again. Sasuke was the first one to speak after some minutes.

"How far are we away from home? Should we set up camp? I doubt any of us can cover more then ten meters today." Naruto smiled despite her aches. Sasuke had come a long way. A few weeks prior he would have never admitted he was tired.

"Less than two miles, I believe. We just wait here. The chakra burst from the seal must've been enough to alert them. Give it ten minutes." The two Chuunin nodded. It went without question that Naruto was the one in charge again. In moments like this, both were happy to just follow orders and not having to think about it.

True to Naruto's words an ANBU team entered the clearing some time later. They were in full armour, weapons at ready. Naruto pulled her sore body from the ground.

"This is Team 7. Were were attacked and need support. My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I issue ANBU order 549." The shinobi stilled in their movements. The squad leader stepped forward. His shoulders were tense. ANBU order 549 states the shift of authority of an ANBU squad onto another captain. That would also mean the revelation of the ANBU's identity. It was designed for situations that required action without time for a thorough briefing.

"You sure?" His movements gave the considering look towards the two chuunin away.

"I am, they received clearance from the Hokage himself." All four ANBU nodded and two went to pick Sakura and Sasuke up, while the squad leader requested information.

Soon they were on their way back to Konoha. The fifteen minutes rest had been enough for Naruto to take on a leisurely pace. She was filling the ANBU captain, crow, in what happened on their mission.

He agreed that these people needed to be brought to the Hokage's attention immediately.

* * *

"This sure is worrisome." The old man looked from the still drop dead tired Team 7 to ANBU squad 2 and his gaze came to rest on Naruto. "Do you suppose they will become an immediate threat to Konoha?"

"I have no knowledge about their aims. But just think of how they hadn't a care in the world as they attacked the villages near the border. They don't fear us. This is either delusional or a reason for us to worry." Naruto's answer left a solemn mood.

"All too true." He sighed. "Go take a rest." He pulled out three scrolls from his drawer. "Read those. The mission briefing is tomorrow noon. I suggest a hospital check-up now."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

After the Team 7 came out of the hospital an hour later, all of them were still to shaken up to really sleep, so they decided to spent the afternoon together. They pondered for a minute if they should go to Sasuke or Sakura's place, since the ANBU HQ were out of bounds. They headed for Sakura's house in the quiet outskirts of town in hope of some peace.

The neighbourhood habituated mainly non-shinobi civilians so no kunai were flung through the air, one could hear the birds chirping and a dog barking. They walked down one of the long avenues with one-family homes left and right. The sun already hung low in the sky, making any light soft and giving the three shinobi an orange tint on the skin.

The houses were painted a different colour each, blue, red, green and pink. Sakura stopped in front of a lilac one with a dark blue front door.

The home was cosy, the hallway narrow with several shelves and a wooden staircase leading up to the higher levels.

Sakura stuck her head into one of the ground level rooms, which's door was slightly ajar.

"Mom, I'm home."They heard the shifting of papers and the scrapping noise of a chair against the floor.

"Sakura, dear. Are you okay?" A woman in her mid-fourties came out, pink hair long and clipped back, ink across her face and glasses on her nose. She embraced her daughter, the relief obvious on her face. Then her gaze fell on Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I'm so glad you're home safe and unharmed, too.", she said after she gave him a quick look-over and then wrapped him in a hug. He stiffened, but Naruto saw he was happy at the affection he received. She knew his mother had withdrawn since her husband was executed. He probably didn't get as much motherly attention anymore.

"And you're Naruto! Look at you, what a beautiful lady my daughter has befriended. I'm so happy to finally meet you." The blond ANBU was pulled out of her musings, when she felt arms around herself. She went rigid and made an effort not to pull back immediately.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Haruno-san." The woman released her, smiling.

"Don't be so formal. You can call me Miako, my first name, or just 'Mom'. Sasuke does, too." Naruto looked at Sasuke unsure, but he nodded his head almost invisibly.

"Ok, … mom." She stuttered, horribly aware of everyone's gaze upon her. She tasted the word in her mouth. It felt strange. She knew the word, but she had never said it out loud. Her eyes went moist. Sasuke noticed this and signalled for Sakura to end this scene.

"Hey Mom, we're a tad tired, the mission was exhausting. I think we'll just hang out in my room, 'kay?" The woman blinked. Sakura's tone made it obvious there was no room for arguments. It was subtle, but she could hear, she had done something wrong.

"Well then, I'll continue with my work, I was just doing our taxes." Well that explains the ink, Naruto thought and hurried to follow Sakura upstairs.

To her surprise the room was not pink. Instead it was painted a very harmonic combination of blue and green tones, it was a grown-up room. Naruto, due to her heightened senses could make out the distinct smell of fresh paint. She asked Sakura this, who blushed furiously and stuttered something about outgrowing the old design. Sasuke smirked knowingly. He'd been to Sakura's room when it was indeed pink and white. He knew that after meeting Naruto made a 180 degree turn and rethought some of her attitude.

They sat down on a the thick, light green carpet and Naruto looked at the stainless fabric admiringly. Sakura noted this.

"You like it?" The blonde nodded.

"I would love a carpet, but they never stay clean. Because of the ..." She left the sentence unfinished. They knew, Naruto came home bloodsoaked quite often and she did not want to ruin her furniture.

"Will we ever see your room?" Sakura was naturally nosy.

"Probably no. I can't just walk in with two Chuunin without complete clearance concerning A-rank identity secrets."

"An ANBU identity is an A-rank secret. What does that mean?" Naruto switched to full lecture mode.

"Well E-ranked ones are kept from civilians, D from Genin, C from Chuunin. B-ranked are only revealed to Jonin and above, while A is for ANBU only. And S-ranked are secrets which can be told to anyone, but only by the Hokage and chosen people. This includes secrets being kept from the council. Those are mostly about forbidden techniques and Hokage stuff. Only those who need to know, know."

"I didn't learn that!", Sakura exclaimed, obviously shocked by that. "How come we didn't cover this in the academy." She didn't even consider the possibility to have forgotten it. Naruto shrugged. From what she knew, one of their academy instructors was a traitor, not at all keen on teaching thoroughly. But she couldn't say that.

Sasuke pulled out the scroll given by the Hokage and broke the seal.

"We have a new mission scheduled in three weeks." He grinned. "We're going to see the exams." Sakura squealed.

"Really? Oh, we're going to see Kiri-Gakure!" She started gushing about how extraordinary the place was. Naruto sighed, which brought her the attention of both.

"What's up?" Sasuke was careful as he asked. He remembered her haunted expression earlier that day, when Mist came up.

"I don't really look forward to it. I … already made my experiences with this country."

"What happened?"

"It was one of my first ANBU missions and my very first assassination. The others were reconnaissance and similar things. Nothing difficult or dangerous." She sighed. "Me and my team had to search out a group of rogues and stuff happened. We were spilt up. I ended up confronting a whole group of them. They had kidnapped women. You can imagine what was going on." Pause. The women's screams were in her ears, the picture of their abused bodies lying in the snow, bloody and bruised, before her inner eye.

"I saw red. Literally." At their confused glances she resigned to her fears.

"What I am going to tell you is an S-rank secret, but since we work together a lot lately I think you should know." Sakura opened her mouth, but Naruto smiled. "Don't worry, I won't get in trouble. I am permitted to tell you this.

"This goes back a long way, you were only just born. 10th October ring a bell." They nodded. She looked relieved. "Good, I don't have to go through the whole thing. The point is that the history books lie, when they say, the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi." Sakura gasped. "Don't worry, he sealed it. Into a newborn child. That's called a Jinchuuriki." She paused again. Now for the harder part.

"You know my birthday?" She watched them connect the dots.

"So you carry this... demon inside of you?" Naruto could cry for Sakura phrasing it the right way. She'd been afraid of the 'You're a demon' sentence.

"Yes." They all kept the silence for a while.

"What does this have to do with the Mist mission?" It was Sasuke, who asked.

"You see, the seal keeps the Kyuubi's personality out of my head. We are two separate beings, though I host it. I am able to draw chakra and am healed by it. But that day in wave I completely lost. These men, they were horrible. Some women were barely fourteen. I attacked without a plan and with the knowledge it was fifteen to one. It just triggered something in me." Her face became bitter and Sakura put a hand on hers.

"Naruto... were you... raped?" Her eyes wide and concerned.

"Not really, but when I was little, abuse was a constant. I was … touched and humiliated. Not quite raped, but enough to become so enraged, when I saw these women. I lost hold on myself. I turned into a slaughtering monster." She was almost choking on a sob. Her façade crumbled, leaving a young woman, who endured to much grief in her life already. "I killed the men, I don't even remember. It was over so fast, but when one of the women approached me, standing engulfed in the poisonous fox chakra, to thank we, I attacked." She swallowed. "She didn't die, but I did permanent damage to her lungs." She remembered her hand tearing through the woman's torso, the shocked expression bringing her back to reality. The blood on her hands, the snow painted crimson. Everyone's screams, her own pain from the burning chakra.

"It showed me what I could become if I don't look out. So if you ever see me coated in red chakra with more than three tails ... Run."

* * *

The next days Sakura and Sasuke spent under a rigorous training regime. She said if they went to mist, they needed to know how to handle ice and water users. She also recommended forearm protectors to shield oneself from senbon needles.

While Naruto was away, they practised jutsu from scrolls she gave them, when she was there she attacked them with vigour.

It left both without any energy for things outside eating and getting ready for bed. Ino soon complained that Sakura wouldn't spent time with her anymore.

Sakura shrugged and invited Ino for training. She never came. This left Sakura very upset. Naruto was becoming very protective of the pinkette and was tempted to give Ino a piece of her mind. She restrained herself and with Sasuke's help organised a spar with Team 7 and Team 10 with a pick-nick afterwards. Naruto also thought it would be good to have practice as team since they hadn't a mission as Team 7 before the exams.

They met at training ground 7 for it included various elements and landscape. Naruto had itched to go to the 44th training ground, but was shot down, when she explained what the forest of death contained.

"Hello everyone." Naruto had gathered them as a group and smiled. Ino's gaze was swaying over to Sasuke, who, just as Sakura, looked focused and ready. Chouji and Shikamaru were still unsure of today's purpose, but willing for a spot of training with hand-to-hand combat. They usually were on reconnaissance and infiltraation missions, due to their bloodline jutsu.

"I thought of a good exercise and spoke with a Jounin. He must be here soon. I asked for supervision, just so things don't get out of hand. We have an important mission in a week and need to be healthy. Any objections to these suppression seals?" She held up a bunch on papers similar to exploding tags.

"What do they do?", Shikamaru asked. Sakura who had already worked with them answered.

"By wearing them, you give the proctor control about ending the fight. If he activates it, all people wearing the seal will have their chakra suppressed and immobilise them. This way nothing can get out of hand." Team 10 nodded.

"Sorry I'm late, I had bit more office work than I supposed." Itachi Uchiha stepped into their midst.

"Nii-san? You supervise?" Sasuke felt gratitude seep through them and shot Naruto a smile. She knew how little time he spent with his brother and how badly he wanted to show him his skills.

"Well, this one came nagging me and is just so persistent. I couldn't help but give in. Besides, I would love to see something else but my desk." He grinned and flicked Sasuke on the forehead.

He then became serious.

"Now then, put on the seals please and then I am going to explain the rules." The followed his instruction, Naruto putting on two. "So we wouldn't want to destroy this place, so no S-ranked or forbidden techniques." His gaze lingered on Naruto, clearly saying 'Don't go overboard'. Ino whispered to Shikamaru that no one was capable of S-rank jutsus anyways. Naruto smirked. She suppressed it, when Itachi glared at her warningly.

"I have a scroll for each of you. The team with all three enemy scrolls wins. Blue for Team 10, white for 7. Questions?" Naruto spoke up.

"It doesn't have consequences, when the other team has one or two scrolls?"

"No, but since you are usually knocked out, when your scroll is taken, it makes things considerably harder. She nodded.

"All right? Then … Begin!" A second later the place in front of him was devoid of the two teams.

He went to lean on a tree trunk, pondering how unfair it was for Team 10. The odds were against them because of a lot of reasons. First and foremost, Team 7 was working its ass of. They were training harder than anyone else. Secondly they had more experience in enemy encounters and last but not least, they had Naruto. Her ANBU skills and knowledge were enough to win against Team 10 alone easily. He chuckled, this seriously would be hilarious.

* * *

**AN:** So I know there hasn't been any Gaara/Naruto action in frozen tears yet, but as my description of silver tears said, I want Naruto to get involved with her generation. I think it's important to learn about her relationship with Team 7 and the others. I want a plot, not just: Gaara looks at Naruto and vice versa, hearts pop up/rainbow, enemy comes, they defeat him, everyone accepts them, Happy End. There is more to this. Also I want to involve the other characters too, they're fun to write.

If anyone seems a bit ooc (like Sasuke) please keep in mind that certain things just didn't happen(no Uchiha massacre, Oro's dead etc.) This is my ff so I can do as I want :P

If anyone actually read this far... I'm searching for a beta reader, but between this many profiles I don't have any clue who to ask. My English DID improve over the last two years I didn't update, but I would still love someone to check for grammar and spelling who unlike me is a native speaker/writer. **If you know anyone ... please write me a message.**

If I have someone pushing me, I might even update more regulary ;)

Until then, take care and see you nex time :***


	4. Chapter 3

Hello everyone! Me... again :D I just returned from a lively holiday in Curaçao and upon returning I was highly motivated so I have two new chapters (after this one) I will also update soon.

You, by the way, witness a première: The first ever chapter I wrote that was checked by a beta reader. So all the credit for the spotless grammar goes to Mai'shardstyle! I just hope I don't mess up he general picture, by writing the author notes by myself XD

Since SddR requested it (thank you all for the lovely reviews by the way :***) insight on Team 10's thoughts in this chapter.

EnjoY!

I don't own Naruto... yes, that's true... sadly

* * *

Chapter 3

They sun burned down on training ground 7 with only little clouds to dampen the heat. Nevertheless the rain from the night prior still kept the ground muddy. The lake's surface lay still and there was no leave rustled except by a few birds, searching for food.

Team 10 had hidden in the woods immediately, to come up with a plan. The three targets they had were, if Shikamaru was correct and he usually was, no piece of a cake. Though Ino seemed to doubt it, he was convinced that aside from Naruto, who was a Jounin, Sakura and Sasuke were also forces to be reckoned with. He knew no Jounin would go on this many joint missions if there wasn't something about them. She could work with any Genin or Chuunin, but in the end it was always the three of them. Odd.

He recalled Sakura's and Ino's training session with the blonde Jounin. He couldn't say she hadn't left an impression on them. While, in the afternoon beforehand, Ino had been eager to dig up dirt concerning Naruto, her bruised pride after the training kept her from asking Sakura anything. They had all watched as Naruto finished the mind jutsu user without much effort. Ino now pretended like she didn't care about this Uzumaki-person in the least, so Shikamaru had to rely on other sources. What a drag.

He had brought her name up in various places, always casual and then observing the reactions closely. When with shinobi, he received respect, admiration and affection. Especially higher ranked ninja were fond of her.

Civilians though mostly were a stark contrast. Everyone roughly above the age of twenty-five seemed to despise her. There were few exceptions.

Through his research, Shikamaru learned that Naruto was an orphan and was picked up by the Hokage at the age of four. She disappeared from the public for a few years, until she resurfaced as a Chuunin at the age of nine. Something was amiss there. She hadn't been to the academy, he had looked up the old files. There was also no entry in the Chuunin exams' participants lists. So she had been field-promoted.

He also heard of her becoming Jounin as a eleven year old. If so, then she must be amazing. No one knew what she was capable of at the moment, five years later.

He and his team gathered in a tree, hidden by the leaves. As Shikamaru started explaining, he had his team mates undivided attention.

"A simple distraction or trap won't work on them. They'd work it out. We need to work multi-layered." As he continued he already knew about the screaming flaw in his plan. He knew nothing about Naruto's abilities and the last time he had seen the other two fight had been in the Chuunin exams three years ago. I need to find out about this woman, he thought, she should be observed closely in the future. He remembered the ANBU jumping in the clearing months ago and kneeling next to Naruto, addressing with a respectful honorific. He had had to work hard to keep the surprise out of his face. Ino had been downright shocked and Chouji had been similar. That he understood. To be greeted by an elite-shinobi this way, you had to be in a very influential position, since the ANBU stood under direct Hokage order. ANBU respected only those who were also in the Black ops or were appreciated by the Hokage himself very much. It was now to draw a conclusion.

* * *

"I think we should give Naruto our scrolls." Sasuke's suggestion came from the right. They jumped through the trees at a slow pace, only for the reason to keep moving.

"I disagree." Sakura piped in. "Concentrating all our scrolls on one point isn't smart."

"You don't think they are able to beat Naruto?" Sakura looked offended.

"I don't! But there is always bad luck. Besides the purpose of this training isn't 'Give Naruto all the work and lean back'." Now it was Sasuke's turn to look unhappy.

"I didn't mean that! I was merely suggesting the best way to win." Both looked at Naruto for she had yet offered her opinion.

"I think Sakura is right. The two of you have grown so much since I got to know you. You are definitely able to hold your own against them. I also wondered... shouldn't we put the winning-loosing aspect a bit aside and try out a bit. It's time you mark your place."

"What do you mean?"

"I requested clearance for the two of you for the next Jounin exams, next spring." Sasuke and Sakura were at a loss for words. So they just continued jumping for a while.

Sasuke thought about it. It was true, since Naruto stepped into their life they had grown exponentially. She pushed them from average Chuunin to high Chuunin level, and now she suggested in half a year they'd be Jounin level.

If there was anything possible to be named the best trait about Naruto, he'd choose her unshakable faith in others. She gave trust so freely, and everyone worked hard to not to disappoint her. He had needed this after his father's death and his brother burying himself in work.

"Thank you." His voice was soft and he saw her smile. She really changed him for the better.

* * *

It was several minutes later that they were ambushed, or at least Team 10 tried. Sasuke saw the exploding tags glued to the trees from afar. They pondered on changing the course, but figured it was exactly what Shikamaru might plan. They halted.

"The problem with geniuses is, you never know how many moves they included in their plans. Possibilities, possibilities... ", Naruto muttered.

"We didn't do ourselves a good thing, letting them do the first strike.", Sasuke agreed. "It's his game now."

"We could just blow it up. They can't really hurt us." They both looked at Sakura. It was a very reckless thing to consider, especially since it came from her. "Don't look at me like that. It's the one thing they won't predict, jumping in head first. Normally we'd change direction or something, but to dive in?" She shook her head. "This is being used to distract us. They wouldn't waste energy on something we'd try to avoid anyway." She seemed confident in her reasoning.

"Can't really argue that point." Naruto seemed to actually consider the idea.

"But to jump into a field of exploding tags? What if Shikamaru guessed we'd think this way? A double bluff?" Sasuke felt uncomfortable at the idea of literately agreeing to getting yourself blown up. It seemed like a very un-shinobi-like thing to do.

"Well, if we don't want to go in, but also not turn around, let's stay here." Naruto decided happily. Sakura inched closer to Sasuke.

"She's going to blow up another forest, isn't she," and indeed she did.

"Time for a giant lawn-mower! Fuuton: Razor blade!" Her team-mates sweat-dropped as the woods around them were reduced to a collection of tree trunks. "At least Shikamaru wouldn't know this possibility. For any other shinobi, this jutsu would be an incomprehensibly huge chakra drain." The pink haired girl sighed. "Time to join, shannaro!" She jumped from their branch to the ground, building up chakra and releasing it upon landing, causing the earth to crack up.

"Suiton: Summer rain." This came from Naruto again.

"Raiton: Charge!" Finally, Sasuke added his jutsu, which carried through his arm into the completely drenched ground and hit the now soaked Team 10.

"Chakra repellent shield." They saw Shikamaru and Chouji standing behind Ino, who had her hands outstretched and a seal glowing in her palms. She worked hard to keep the blue bubble up, saving her from being paralysed by Sasuke's jutsu. By combining it with Naruto's water jutsu it became a perfect long-range attack, while normally the electricity could only jump a few centimetres.

"Ah, how boring", Naruto whispered to her friends. "She used a prior made seal. No creativity." Sakura rolled her eyes. Working with seals as well, Naruto was always drawing up stuff in the middle of the battle.

"Let's see what it can manage." She sprinted forward on the cracked ground, the other two following. They fell into an easy routine. For them, working together was like breathing.

Naruto's index finger started glowing blue with chakra and as soon as she reached the shield she drew up quick characters on its surface. The bubble shattered like broken glass. The two Chuunin overtook her left and right and attacked the male members of team 10.

Ino just looked at Naruto, who now observed the other fights, making mental notes, what to praise or criticise later. Sakura was jumping to avoid the shadow that ran over the ground, but was soon tricked with one of her opponents tactics. She stood next to a cut tree and the blackness seeped out of the leaves littering the ground. Her eyes darted to Naruto, who just raised an eyebrow, but otherwise stayed rooted to the spot.

"You won't help her? She always says how great of a friend you are." Naruto just glanced at Ino, who now aimed one of her blood line techniques at her. Easily avoiding it, she jumped next to Sasuke, who sent Chouji to the ground with a open palm thrust, curtsey to training with Naruto's ANBU team, which also held a Hyuuga.

"Sakura, we're finishing up now." The pinkette smiled slightly and stomped her foot to the ground, regardless of the shadow possession justu. The earth broke.

"How? I had you." The genius' face revealed confusion.

"Ino didn't see correctly, when she said Naruto didn't help me." She bend down and pulled the zipper for her boot open. Drawn onto her skin at her ankle was a tiny, but complex seal.

"It gives me the possibility to take control of a number of muscles thrice. It needs to be charged for 30 seconds, but I can nullify any possession or control." Naruto explained. "It takes an understanding on seals, that's why it isn't well known."

Sakura joined her team-mates and they got into formation. Chouji had also fought his way over to the other two and completed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"I might warn you." Sasuke spoke up now, a smirk present on his face. "We're a heavy-assault squad." Naruto gave hand signs and the match started anew. Now it was mostly Taijustu and Team 7's training paid off. Their reflexes were superior, when they used Ninjutsu it was so in sync with the others that it took only minutes before the outcome was settled.

Ino was the first of them to loose her scroll, Chouji followed.

Finally it was only Shikamaru who fought Naruto. The exchange was unbalanced. While Naruto didn't seem to make an effort, the Chuunin worked hard to meet her blows. Her style was working against his carefully drawn up plans.

"Ino, plan B!" He shouted and took his scroll out, throwing it. Chouji's hands expanded, shielding its course from Sakura and Sasuke, so Ino could catch it. She took off.

"Oh dear, running, are we now?" Naruto sighed and pushed a seal onto Shikamaru's forehead with a quick move. He was out instantly.

"Tie them up or knock them out, I'll be right back." She made to follow Ino and the other two nodded.

By the time Naruto caught up to the blonde they had reached the open area with the lake. Ino skipped to a halt.

"Don't look so sure of yourself, considering the chakra you must've used for the jutsu already, you have to be extremely exhausted." Nevertheless Ino's voice wavered slightly.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the feeling that you you're loosing Sakura, but you need to look at her. She's growing up, Ino. You need to as well and I can't be blamed for this. You know this."

"I really can't stand you."

"I can't say I like you, you've never given me reason to. But I trust Sakura's judgement. You must be a good friend to her." She smiled. "Give me the best you got."

Then the fight started. Ino tried hard not to give an inch and at first she succeeded.

"You're holding back," she growled. "Don't!"

"Fine." And it was over.

* * *

Naruto had placed a storage seal in a nice clearing in the forest. From the seal, Naruto released three large baskets filled with food and drinks for everyone. While the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio was still out, Team 7 carried them to the chosen spot and also invited Itachi to join the picnic. They propped the unconscious shinobi against trees and started laying out food. Naturally, Chouji was the first to come around.

"I take it we lost?", he asked, but smiling.

"Very much so." Itachi, as the proctor had taken the progression of the battle into close account and was delighted by the teamwork both teams had displayed. He wasn't at all surprised by the outcome, knowing that Naruto had intended to let her two Chuunin work. He was sure she could have gathered the scrolls alone without Team 10 even noticing, but her refraining pushed the team further a great deal.

"So, are the three of you doing any missions currently?", he asked. Sasuke shared close to nothing at home, which Itachi had to blame on his own disinterest for a long time. While they talked a bit more, since Naruto came to visit, Sasuke had developed into a very closed off person, when around his family. He still felt betrayed and Itachi knew it was his fault. After the Uchiha's coup d'etat he should have been there for his brother.

"We are on stand-by." Sakura answered. For her, the response was shockingly short and Itachi marvelled at the team's progress once more. Gone was the squealing girl with a crush on his brother, who would have jumped at the situation to chatter about their missions.

"Oh, so you have something big coming up? Or does the Hokage think you should take a break?" Chouji was nosy now. Both Chuunin stiffened a bit, but Naruto stayed perfectly relaxed.

"You can stop asking, we won't share." She smiled sweetly. "I guess as shinobi you must know the term 'confidential'." She and Itachi nodded at each other, they both had seen Shikamaru's eyelashes flutter. He was awake and very much listening. Naruto knew that if it was possible for someone to figure out her identity, he was definitely one of them.

Some minutes later Ino finally stirred and woke up. She opened her eyes wit a start and looked around in slight panic.

"Relax, Ino. Fighting is over. You want some fruit salad?" Sakura pushed a bowl into her hands. The mind user's eyes travelled to Naruto, who picked at a sandwich. Her expression was open and relaxed, as she listened to Chouji go about his family jutsu. Ino caught her eyes. There was a new understanding between them and when everyone went home in the evening Ino lingered. Soon, the two blonde kunoichi were the only ones left. They stared each other in the eyes.

Then Ino turned to go. She had almost left the clearing, when she halted and spoke. "Take care of her. I'll catch up soon."

* * *

"Group C, please get to the gathering point and sign in!"

"ANBU briefing in five minutes!"

"Any Genin who has yet to hand in the forms, report to Suzuki-san asap!"

The space in front of the front gates was packed and buzzing with noise. Today was the day the trek to Mist began and any poor soul who had been picked for organising the event was close to a nervous breakdown. From Konoha seven Genin teams had signed up for the exams and all of them were taking their teachers along. There were ambassadors from the coucil, since this was a political event, and three clan heads were travelling with them, too. Each had their bodyguards and finally there was the Hokage, who had a whole ten people assigned just to him.

Altogether about seventy people were leaving the village, and not all of them were shinobi.

It had been decided to split in three groups, each one holding Genin, Chuunin, Jounin and even ANBU to guarantee a safe journey.

Team 7 was travelling in group A, directly with the Hokage. The old man was intent on progressing project Sannin 2, so the team had to appear in the public face more often and become famous or infamous.

Especially for this event there were masks designed, to keep their identities hidden a bit longer. While the ANBU masks were from white porcelain, these were deep blue. Glossy red paint in various dark shades gave them the features of a panther, a tiger and a puma.

They now wore matching garments, consisting of blue pants and shirt, and red armour and protectors. Each of them had managed to still be individual. The clothing differed slightly in the tailoring and the weaponry they carried was fitted to their fighting style and all of them looked deadly with nothing short of ANBU-professionalism.

As they walked through the crowd of shinobi, civilians and other people, everyone looked at them closely, this garment was unknown and without the Konoha symbol engraved into the mask at forehead level, they would have been mistaken as strangers. No one knew of a group with blue masks.

The three of them approached the Hokage and bowed in greeting. The old man smiled.

"Nice to see you this morning. And actually on time." This was for Sakura and Sasuke, as their sensei had been notoriously late.

"Sir, on the list for group A are three spots just with question marks. Who do we await? I need to tick them off." The stressed looking Chuunin called Aoi asked in a stressed out voice.

"This will be us. Mark us as present." Naruto's soft voice instructed. The boy seemed to realise someone was there just then. He jumped, looked at his clipboard, and then went of, scribbling hastily. "He doesn't look very healthy." Naruto voiced. The Hokage sighed.

"A lot of us have been on too little sleep lately. Exams are always a lot of work, but since we are going to Mist..."

"Take-off in 30 minutes! ANBU briefing now. Squad leaders should gather with Hokage-sama in 10 minutes.", someone called.

"Aren't you going to the ANBU briefing?", Sakura asked.

"I can't go like this, I'm not on ANBU duty right now, but I sent a shadow clone." Naruto looked over where a blonde kunoichi with a white wolf mask joined the other ANBU. "Let's go through our list one last time."

* * *

Travelling proveditself to be a long and slow procedure. The way to Kiri-gakure would take a average shinobi about three days, but with the supplies and civilians they calculated ten to twelve days.

Team 7 was on almost constant duty, guarding and observing. They kept to the trees and stayed in contact with the other groups, who took parallel roads left and right. The weather became slightly colder and the air was damp after five days. All of the shinobi were very aware of the fact that they were getting closer to once enemy territory.

On the eighth day Team 7 scouted forward to meet a team from mist, who would lead the way. The team consisted of seven members, the leader being a blonde women in her early thirties. Everyone bowed.

"My name is Terumi Lana. On Mizukage-sama's behalf I, as her sister, welcome you to our country. We were informed you travel in three groups, there are two shinobi for each group to lead the way, which is very difficult to find in the mist."

"Thank you for your kind words, Terumi-san. I am panther, this is my team puma and tiger. We will lead you to Hokage-sama and afterwards to the groups." Terumi nodded and they started walking in the camp's direction. As the leaders Naruto and Terumi naturally fell into step next to each other, the rest following behind.

"I am slightly curious to see these masks. I am fairly sure they are not from the ANBU black ops." the woman was careful not to reveal too much knowledge, but couldn't keep the curiosity out of her voice.

"We are independent from the ANBU, that is right. This is a unit Hokage-sama is testing at the moment. So to say a pilot project." Naruto didn't reveal anything about its cause nor their skills. The plan about a second Sannin squad was S-ranked confidential.

The Mist shinobi were refreshingly fast, so after the awfully slow civilian speed team 7 had for the last few days they were happy to flex their muscles and just enjoy the speed. They arrived at the camp-site for the night very quickly and Naruto led Terumi to the Hokage's tent. While they talked she stood close to the entrance next to an ANBU with an owl mask.

"So I'll have someone escort your teammates to the other two groups, I suppose you want to stay here? You're very welcome to make use of the unoccupied tents." The old man sat in a leather armchair and behind a solid wooden desk, curtsey to the storage seals.

"As the squad leader I believe this is the best place for me to be. Thank you." The Hokage stood up.

"I am very happy that this event can take place. I look forward to a good relationship with Kiri-gakure and Mizukage-dono. If you need anything at all or you have a question while you are in our trek, please ask panther." He gestured to Naruto.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Both bowed, albeit the Hokage not as low and Terumi walked out.

"You keep your eyes open, but I believe there isn't an ill thought in her, at least concerning us. The Mizukage also must be glad to have us, since she sent her own sister to greet us." He smiled at Naruto. "Well done so far. You and Team 7 are now responsible for the three Mist shinobi in our group. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

In the next few days Naruto and Terumi learned they got along horribly. Both hid behind professional façades and nice expressions, but Terumi despised the fact that Naruto was so closed off and calm, which clashed with her more bubbly personality that now showed. Naruto disliked that the woman often played the 'I'm-the-Mizukage's-sister-card'. She expected especially her subordinates to follow her just because of that aspect.

Glad to wear a mask, Naruto only spoke the necessary with her and used a polite tone to avoid confrontation. The relationship between Leaf and Mist was fragile and everyone was treading on thin ice. The tension was palpable.

They arrived at Kiri-gakure no sato in the late afternoon on the tenth day. The village was located at the foot of a mountain, completely engulfed in thick mist.

"It's the evening mist, it should be gone within half an hour.", Terumi explained. She led them to a district in the outskirts that revealed small bungalows in neat rows. The houses were made of white, smooth material, almost looking like snow, but comparable to marble in texture. Terumi gestured to a small sign showing the Konoha leaf.

"We have parts for each village, as you see this is you district. There are twenty-five houses for rooming and another five for different purposes as storage, dojo and office. Each bungalow can house up to four people. So since you are less than eighty people it shouldn't be too packed." She smiled. "Please settle in first, we'll send someone over so Hokage-sama can meet our Mizukage-sama." She bowed and then left.

There was one house designed for the Hokage and, after a team of ANBU checked it, he went in. After that everyone else started looking for room. Team 7 occupied the house right next to the Hokage's.

Sakura squealed slightly as they entered. Naruto could definitely understand that motion. The floor was a dark wood with a slight reddish tint. The walls were cream coloured and the furniture dark and light green. There was a small living-room with a kitchenette and a dinner table. The bathroom revealed facilities in white porcelain and hammered copper. There were two bedrooms identical to each other. Sakura and Naruto put their stuff in one of them and began unsealing the scrolls they carried. Sasuke placed various safety seals at every window and door.

Outside, the light was fading, but the lighting in their room was bright and warm. They unmasked and Sakura took a quick shower. Sasuke and Naruto settled on the sofa to wait for her.

"This definitely nice housing. I could get used to this." Naruto stretched.

"So ANBU housing isn't the greatest?"

"Well it's fine. But it's always just for one person if you live at the HQ. A lot of ANBU live with their families. Those who don't have any, like me and also single ANBU live in there."

"So if you wanted to, you could just move out?"

"Yes, of course. But where would I go?" They stayed in silence for a while, the only noise the running shower. "I thought about building. Some areas close to the HQ are quite cheap because most don't want to live close to the assassins. But just for me is also boring."

"I'd like to get out, too. Being in a clan compound leaves little to no freedom. I thought a flat might be a nice idea, but they're quite expensive in the village and most people don't like the ungodly hours shinobi are about.

"Sakura also said to me lately, she was thinking about moving out. Her parents are great, but she wanted to grow more independent and get away from her little sister." Naruto laughed. Haruno Kei was seldom sweet. She was barely seven and mischief sparkled in her eyes.

"Are you guys ready? We can report now." Sakura stepped out in clean clothes and her long pink hair in a long braid similar to Naruto's.

"It was you we waited for, so no hurrying me."

* * *

"You will be glad to learn that the delegation from Suna has arrived just yesterday, and Kumo the day before. Soon everyone will be here." The young Chuunin that led them through the village towards the mountain seemed to feel the need to inform them of the current progress. The Hokage and Team 7 were glad.

They walked through a labyrinth of white houses made from the same material as their bungalows. The streets were not very busy as it was already evening, but everyone they met greeted them in a polite and friendly manner. Years of war and mutual distrust had been tiring and made everyone eager for peace and Kiri-gakure put a lot of hopes in these exams.

"You probably know that Suna has yet to elect a new Kazekage. The only were able to send three ambassadors from their council and two of the Kazekage's children."

Naruto looked up. She knew Suna was still without a leader, but maybe she got the chance to meet Gaara.

"One of the is very skilled with puppets, quite impressive, I must say. The other displays a fine elemental manipulation. As most of us here are also element users this is quite interesting."

So Kankuro was here. But the elemental user could be both Gaara and Temari. Naruto felt like walking on coals. She knew it wasn't her place to ask anything now, so she waited.

They were led into the mountain, which seemed to contain a whole network of tunnels and hallways.

After numerous stairs they entered a vast hall with high ceilings and ice-like pillars. A woman in white robes came towards them. Naruto noticed the similarity to her sister, they almost looked the same, minus the hair colour.

"Hokage-dono! I am so pleased to welcome you here, I hope you are content with your accommodations?"

They started to exchange pleasantries and Naruto's gaze was dragged further into the room. There stood Kankuro in dark blue robes, identical to the ones the person next to him wore.

A person with shocking red hair and a pure white shard of porcelain on a ribbon around his neck. Naruto's breath halted. He was there.

* * *

And they meet again. Dadadam!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was the longest by now and I have so many time jumps... -_-

But hey we're finally in Kiri and Gaara is in sight again, that's something positive, right? I just tend to overwrite things and now I had to draw a line.

* * *

Literally ;)

Anyways, reviews are appreciated, I love to read them :D Maybe I'll even send the next chapter to my beta today if you ask nicely ;) don't worry, I don't do blackmail, it's already on the way.

So everyone take care. Love, Cold Moon


	5. Chapter 4

There we go again. I just returned from a class trip to vienna on saturday and today I got in my first car accident... I'm still very upset, ruined the tire and the felloe of my car O.o ... thank god nothing worse happened. So as a proof I'm still there I thought I publish the next chapter today my dear beta has already sent me back ages ago... sry

BTW though belatedly: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mai'shardstyle! I wish you the best :)

I thank you all for your continuous support and the reviews I receive. I'm always so happy, when my email tells me someone new has added the story to alert or even favorite

I don't own naruto

* * *

As an ANBU on active duty, one had to be always in communication with him- or herself. Issues you faced had to be discussed and as soon as you didn't know what you thought and felt any more was the moment you should leave the black ops. The reasons were simple. If you become too detached, you grow into a senseless killer with no ideals and reason. Those can't be accepted by the village, it is too dangerous. Of course, in some situations, one had to push back his or her emotions just do the job, but when alone, in the safety of the HQ, you must face the darkest corners of the mind. Those who wouldn't confront the guilt, the terror, the crime would sooner or later become unstable.

This was why Naruto, being a responsible ANBU member, was perfectly in tune with her feelings. After she returned from Suna she knew something was off. She spent time meditating and thinking and soon her conclusion was clear.

She was in love with Sabaku no Gaara. She wanted him in every possible way. At his worst, at his best, as her companion, friend, lover, fellow person. She wanted to be the one listening to him and the one he confided in.

So when she saw him in the ballroom in Kiri, her breath hitched and her heart sped up. She couldn't help but notice how his eyes seemed softer, his gaze calmer and more sane. His hands rested relaxed at his side and there was no tension in his stance. He was better, and she fought not to run over to him and keep her chakra from spiking.

"Please, sit down. We can discuss a few things." The Mizukage led their leader to a group of armchairs and Naruto tried to estimate the amount of time she had tuned the conversation out.

Gaara and Kankuro took place next to the Rai-kage who greeted Sarutobi like an old battle companion. Team 7 occupied the place behind their Hokage as Terumi Mei sat down.

"Again, I am very glad that after all these years we are on speaking terms again. Finally even those who knew how to hold a grudge caved in to make room for negotiations. I am so very happy."

"Believe me, the pleasure is ours. This has been a very fortunate year so far." The Hokage smiled. "Just a few months ago Konoha got into contact with Suna again. The events during our delegation's visit clearly weren't as fortunate, but we are very hopeful of a positive future." He gave Gaara another smile, his kind eyes warming at the sight of the boy who was so very different from what he heard.

"Is there any progress in deciding on a new Kazekage yet?", the Raikage asked.

"We would love to nominate my brother, but he still has difficult standing in the council and village." Kankuro explained with a gesture to Gaara.

Naruto's eyes widened. Maybe Gaara would be Kazekage! She felt very happy for his progress.

"Oh really, why?" It was the Mizukage who asked. Obviously Mist had been isolated more than everyone thought.

"It's because of the demon I host." Gaara's voice was soft and his hand reached up to the shard on the necklace. His index finger caressed the sharp edges and Naruto felt warmth seep into her stomach. He remembered and treasured it as she said.

She knew he had not recognised her yet, barely an acknowledging glance had graced her. She understood the art to blend in with the background and become one of the nameless bodyguards surrounding the Hokage.

The discussion turned on other subjects, but soon the Raikage commented on Team 7.

"This is a strange attire, Sarutobi. Your ANBU not good enough any more?" He laughed good-naturedly.

"I can't complain about my ANBU, this is a new project. They are a heavy-assault team in the making. Very special indeed." Now everyone looked more closely. Heavy-assault teams weren't a regular occurrence, since they required unique skills in spying, assassination, close-combat and infiltration.

"Oh really. I believe you had them picked from all you best Jounin."

"Not at all. Two of them are Chuunin from the same Genin-team and the squad leader was in ANBU. All of them still very young."

* * *

All the shinobi in the room couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. Since this was a friendly meeting and the atmosphere had been relaxed, none of them had kept track too closely to who the respective guards were. But hearing the explanation of the Hokage, they had to wonder how good this team was to be chosen as personal protectors of their leader, when not all of them were even Jounin.

Of course also Kankuro's interest was piqued, but even more when he watched his brother. He was very happy the way Gaara had developed in the last weeks. He was still a private person and mostly closed off, but he worked on the siblings' relationship and came into contact with the village. A smile now graced his features sometimes and he was collected and calm, instead of unstable and angry.

Nevertheless he had not developed typical teenager behaviour and was uninterested in strangers. There was no difference in his treatment of female or male. He was dedicated to his training and worked with his fellow shinobi, but didn't hang out with them in his freetime. When he met new people he assessed them quickly. No one seemed to capture special interest or fascinated him.

So why could Kankuro register a slight change in his posture and small widening of his eyes now? When he looked at the group of Konoha shinobi.

The puppeteer followed his gaze. This heavy-assault team didn't look that different from normal shinobi at the first glance. Right left behind the Hokage stood a female with a puma mask. She wore long blue pants tucked in black boots and a wide shirt over a fish-net top. Her hands were covered with thick looking gloves and there was some kind of armour protecting her lower back and shoulders. A long pink chord was dangling between her shoulder blades, or at least that's what it looked like until Kankuro realized it was her hair in a thick braid.

To her right, with his right shoulder to the Hokage and his back leaned on one of the pillars in the room was a boy with black hair defying gravity and a tiger mask. He had a long sword strapped to his back and scrolls in his belt. He wore similar armour consisting of forearm-, shin- and chest armour. Kankuro noted a certain tension in his posture. To the casual observer his stance seemed relaxed even bored as he leaned against the pillar, but Kankura was an experienced shinobi and saw how he resembled a snake before striking. No not quite. More like someone awaiting orders.

Kankuro looked between him and the pink-haired female and noticed how the were in each other's sight and stood in constant contact. The girl was probably the leader since she was closest to Kage and at the front.

Only now Kankuro consciously looked at the third member. She was further away, almost hidden in the shadow of yet another pillar. One tended to oversee her. She seemed almost detached from the others.

The black paint on the mask mostly blended in with the darkness around her and he could only see the red and blue features of a panther. She was small and lithe, the blond braid almost as long as half her body. Her upper body was clad in a black sleeveless turtle neck. Above this she wore a long sleeved blue shirt that reached her thighs. It fit loosely, leaving her shoulders bare. Kankuro suspected hidden pockets and already saw the dark armour beneath it. Her pants had a slim cut but left her plenty freedom in movement. The black boots almost reached her knees and everywhere possible she had tucked scrolls and weapon pouches. Her most obvious weapon, though, was a short ninjato, like he had seen the ANBU use, horizontally at the small of her back.

Somehow seeing her shifted the dynamics of the team. At the beginning of his observation Kankuro thought the Puma was the leader, but even though the other girls stood so far away he was sure she was pulling the strings.

Suddenly something in his head clicked. One ANBU, two Chuunin. A girl with pink hair. A boy with this tension in his stance. A blond blending in, but still being in charge.

That sounded awfully familiar.

Though his observations had been outstanding, Kankuro needed a moment to reach his conclusion. Then it became clear. This was Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and the girl who changed his brother Uzumaki Naruto. And that made Gaara's reaction all the more interesting. Almost everytime her name was mentioned Kankuro had seen his brother soften and touch this shard he wore around his neck. Had Gaara been a normal guy his age, Kankuro would have suspected he was in love, but even though there was something, he had thought love was maybe not the right word. Inspiration. Motivation. Comfort. Those had fit better.

But now... Gaara was sending of waves of anticipation and also positive emotions. Kankuro was sure no one except him noticed, but he knew his little brother better.

* * *

Then again even he couldn't imagine the whirlwind of emotions Gaara experienced now. In hindsight he wondered how he could not have noticed her presence right away. Now that he knew she was there the room seemed too small for her. She was everything for a moment. Sucking him in, just her existence alone dominated his entire thought and feeling.

In the last months she'd been a constant. Everywhere he went her voice followed. Her scent hit his senses at every corner. The light tricked him to see her for just a second. But instead of feeling haunted, he embraced the feeling. She was there for him, watching over him. Giving him the strength to become a better person. The thought of making her proud helped him through the darker moments and now he could love himself in a healthy way. He felt, again, the need to help others, the comfort company offered, the rest a night's sleep offered. He wasn't proving his existence, he was proving he was alive, living, not only breathing.

Because of everyone's curiosity the meeting took a different turn. The wish to see Team 7 in action became louder and a spar was organized between them and a team from mist. The Hokage saw this as an ideal way to push Team 7's fame. It would be the opening match for the third part of the Chuunin exams, and if everyone's hopes were fulfilled, it would be the perfect fuel for the crowd to get warmed up.

So with one more thing on their agenda the Konoha delegation returned to their quarters that night. Team 7 was still too much awake to head straight to bed, so they spent the better part of an hour in their living-room talking and playing a board game.

"The Mizukage seemed a bit behind the events, don't you think?", Sakura asked as she threw the dice.

"I agree. I thought Gaara being a Jinchuuriki was a well known fact by now." Sasuke moved his piece. "The Raikage didn't seem surprised."

"Even his guards didn't bat an eyelash." Sakura added. She looked at Naruto, who considered the card in her hand.

"Definitely fishy." She looked up. "Now I have to walk back seven places."

"Did you even listen to us?" Sakura obviously couldn't decide if she felt bemusement or angry.

"Of course I did. It hints that either the Mizukage isn't showing her full hand or that Mist has been isolated and their spy network suffered more than we thought." Her eyes travelled over the board. "I hate the fact that we have to do this ridiculous spar at the tournament. If something happens we will already be exhausted. And we need to win!" She threw her deck on the table and leaned back. The others also resumed in playing.

"Do we really have to win? It sounded quite friendly to me." Sakura was carefully suggesting.

"Whoever wins this spar dictates the terms of the treaty." Naruto had already figured out the subtle purposes of this seemingly irrelevant match. "We represent Konoha more than everyone else as we do not just participate in the exams as Genin. We are the Hokage's very personal body guard. We are in second row this time. Us failing would mean the Hokage puts his trust in weak people. This is a battle of wills, and I repeat. We. Must. Win."

* * *

The following days were dominated by the turn in the events. Team 7 schedule was about to burst. Naruto had decided on a whole lot of training for the upcoming fight. She would love to spend the better part of the day training, but if the team disappeared from the public eye, everyone would know that it was in direct response to the challenge.

It made Naruto restless, as she knew the Mizukage would present a strong team. They would not meet the other team until the match and Naruto was the only one really experienced with Mist shinobi. While Team 7 had to appear with the Hokage very often she knew the Mizukage was selecting her very best shinobi.

Her only hope were two things. Firstly that the chosen shinobi were from different teams and weren't able to work with each other very well and secondly, that they weren't too experienced ones. She knew the Mizukage would loose face if she sent anyone too high ranked. A won fight with uneven odds would not bring the woman the desired success. Naruto suspected chuunin or jounin her age who proved to be prodigies. Without doubt, they would be able to use the month only for training.

Naruto reported to the Hokage first thing the next morning shortly after the delegation from Iwagakure had been welcomed. She was discussing the obvious issue for over an hour and returned with an extensive timetable, planning the next days to the minute, involving the use of clones and henge no jutsu.

Naturally the following week containing the first two exam parts held a lot of running around for Team 7.

Three days after their arrival found Naruto walking quickly through the streets of Kirigakure. She was still early for a meeting with her teammates and finally done with attending a tea ceremony between the Hokage and the Mizukage, posing as the complete team. She had about half an hour left so she slowed her pace and enjoyed the moment to herself, a sacred occurrence lately.

The small alleyway she was in now was vacated and she stood for a moment and leaned against a house wall, resting her head on the smooth surface. She would have loved to take her mask off, but knew it was vital.

"Naruto." She let her head snap in the direction of the voice. It was Kankuro. Standing still for a moment, she assessed the situation. His intention. Last time they met had been friendly his face did not reveal any of the good times they shared.

"Kankuro-san. It's nice to see you again." She tried for polite and neutral.

"So they gave a munchkin like you a new mission. Didn't recognize you at first, with all that fancy mask and stuff." His face split in a smile, a laughing sparkle in his eyes. She walked towards him and they shook hands. They exchanged a few quick words until Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore.

"How's Gaara?"

Now this was a surprise, Kankuro thought. He suspected his brother might at best hold the Konoha ANBU in high esteem, maybe develop a soft crush. But her. She might have changed him, though when she returned home, he had doubted her to spend that much thought on his brother.

Nevertheless she stood before him, asked for Gaara with such a voice. It made him wonder. That didn't stop him from answering though.

"Gaara's well. He's much better nowadays. Ever since he came to wear this strange shard, he is easier to get along with. I won't say he makes a lot of friends, but is open and is at least polite."

"That's wonderful for him." She sounded very sincere to Kankuro. This girl was genuinely happy his brother had found the right track. "You know about this shard?" The question did not let on what she knew about it.

"Nothing really. It appeared a few days after you all left. He locked himself to his room for four days, when he came out he wore it. Ever since I have not seen him take it of. When Temari asked, he only said it was for remembering. Must be a significant memory. Come to think of it, it always looked familiar. None of us could place it though. There's too much white porcelain in this world."

She let him ramble and took the bits of information. Her hand again felt in her pocket, the white material warm because of her body heat. Like him she kept the shard on her at all times.

"Take me to him." It was a fine line between order and plea. When Kankuro looked at her suspiciously, she knew he wasn't buying it. "I care about him, he's my friend. Since the moment we met." She pulled out the porcelain from her pocket and held it in front of her face. Realization flooded his features.

"It was your mask. Why do you both carry round this thing?" Her looking to the ground was answer enough for him. She wouldn't tell him. But he could tell she meant no harm to his brother. So he took her with him.

* * *

What was she doing at the moment? No doubt she was busy. And even as the Kazekage's son he couldn't just walk into the Konoha district. She might not even be there.

This was ridiculous. He could send a messenger. But what should he say? Writing didn't sound appealing to him either. He'd just end up jotting down more than intended.

He reminded himself he did not mind her occupying his thoughts. Even when it began to frustrate him. She was so close-by. Maybe even in the same building as him sometimes.

A knock on the door interrupted his musings.

"Come in.", he said from his place on the sofa. The door opened and he looked at the person entering. His breath caught in his thought. "How..?" His question was left unanswered as she closed the door behind her. She took of her mask and smiled.

And suddenly his day was ten times brighter.

She stood there for minutes and neither of them spoke. It was calm and silent and both felt oddly comfortable. After a while he made a hand gesture to invite her to sit.

She chose the space right beside him and as she touched his hand he felt the sand seep away. Her hand travelled up and lithely caressed the porcelain shard, a soft look on her face.

"I'm glad you're well." She did not ask, she just saw right into his soul.

"Naruto..." Her eyes sparkled as he spoke her name and for a second he wondered why. She closed them. "Why are you here?" He knew how rude that question must sound, but she merely smiled.

"I could tell you about my mission with the Hokage, but I suppose you want to know why I am here in your room, correct?" He nodded.

"I wanted to see you and when I ran into your brother I asked him to take me along."

"See me?"

"Well, you're my friend and we did not see each other for months. Of course I wanted to see you." His social skills were not developed well enough to have noticed the sparkle was lost in her eyes. "Did you not want to see me?" Somehow her question seemed ridiculous to him. A waste of breath even. How could she in a million years come to think he did not want to see her? But then again, how could she know how much she meant to him? She was hope for him, the light in his own personal darkness.

"I did." They did not speak anymore, and when Naruto left ten minutes later, he felt he should have said something to explain.

Kankuro appeared to have the same opinion. He strode in shortly after she left and sat down in an armchair with a heavy sigh. He contemplated his brother for another minute, then chose his words carefully.

"You see, I don't know what your relationship with Naruto is like, but you downright behaved like strangers back now."

"You eavesdropped." It wasn't a question.

"Of course I did. She's a shinobi from another village, who is very skilled. Naturally I won't leave you completely alone. Though I believe the greatest crime committed was you being foolish.", he muttered quietly. Kankuro wanted to explain to his brother what he should have done and why, but he knew if Gaara had yet to figure it out, it would be pointless. The redhead was not ready for girls.

And with a start, Kankuro realized, Naruto knew this, too. She would not push him and put herself aside. She loved him. She loved him and knew he could not love her.

And another fact Kankuro knew was, if there ever was a woman, who could and should be with Gaara, it was her. So he felt her sorrow and allowed himself to grief for the woman loving his brother. The world sometimes was a cruel place.

* * *

That's it again for now, next chapters in the making, but no promises. School started again and I need to get a grip on my Chinese class... my teacher's barking mad... Now if you don't hear from me soon, it is safe to suppose I got lost in the sea of vocabulary cards full of characters -_-

Anyway leaving a review is highly appreciated. I hope you had a better day than me and I wish you the best until next time.

Love, Cold Moon


	6. Chapter 5

So, I know it's been a month, but please know that I spent a lot of time working through this and the next chapters. I gladly announce: Frozen Tears is finished. I have the next chapter and the epilogue already on the way to my Beta, but I had to make sure, I was willing to end the story here.

Plans for the third part already in motion, but please be patient. I experienced it to be difficult to start a sequel. It is not like a new story, but still you have to get in the touch with the material anew.

For now, enjoy this chapter, we are close to the end :)

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 5

The week following her encounter with Gaara, Naruto was working hard to stop herself from slacking. While being professional normally didn't take her a real effort, she now**,** more often than not**,** thought about staying in bed for a whole day. Her work ethic projected on Sasuke and Sakura and the training didn't bring the intended progress. Naruto always was their engine. With her, everyone managed almost impossible tasks, but if she slowed, all would follow suit.

After some time Sakura grew worried and started her personal inquisition, involving chocolate, ice-cream and several hours of talking. She coaxed the story of her encounter with Gaara out of Naruto and wasn't surprised her team mate was bothered by the events.

"You see, I believe we have been made for each other. We share the same childhood and even now we are eerily similar." Naruto punched the cushion that was lying in her lap. Both girls sat on the floor, the alarm clock on the night-stand showing it was already past three. Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time.

"He is just not ready. But maybe someday he will be and you can develop the bond you deserve." Sakura explained. She was not yet frustrated at the little insight Naruto had on this matter, but strictly disagreed with the point, making her tired.

The blonde launched into another round of telling Sakura her misery.

"I sometimes think, I need this so much. He is just like me, both of us have experienced true loneliness. How could I ever find somebody understanding me, like he could? I can only see him."

Sakura sighed. This was getting complicated, with the trauma Naruto had from her childhood playing its part. Time to pull out the harsher words.

"I know how this must sound, but he isn't the only male walking this earth. If you choose him, don't do it because you believe there's no one else for you. You have many chances at happiness." Naruto's eyes sparkled in disbelief.

"You don't believe in 'the One'?"

"No, not anymore. And I also don't believe in desperation. In the end it's all about choices. Who we choose to be with, which flaws in the other we can accept, which parts we can cherish." Now Naruto was completely baffled.

"But... You... Sasuke?" Sakura smiled sadly.

"I don't believe we are fated to be with each other. If we grow closer, I can surely imagine him as the person I share my life with, but if not... I'll survive. We are still young, right?" There was a pregnant pause before Sakura started talking again. "I know you don't believe in fate. Why do you do now?"

Naruto had no answer to that. When they went to bed later she fell asleep instantly, but woke up at dawn. She silently dressed and went out.

The mist was heavy at this time of the day, the air charged with an ethereal glow. The ANBU's footsteps were soundless as she walked through the short grass. Her thoughts still were on her nightly conversation with Sakura.

She couldn't help but agree with her in most points. If there ever walked a person the earth who absolutely did not believe in fate, it was Naruto. Changing the odds was almost on her agenda on daily basis. So why was she so determined that only Gaara was the right one for her?

The longer she considered this, the more she found her own position ridiculous. Yes, she wanted him, but did she really know him? She had been convinced they were soul mates and their similar fate made them perfect for each other. But what if he disliked her understanding of friendship. Despised her history in ANBU. Did not understand her love for her parents.

Sakura had been right, she should build a relationship with him and figure out what they could become later. Desperation wasn't a good basis for love.

"Good morning, Naruto." She looked up from her musings, only to look in his aquamarine eyes. She smiled behind her mask.

The atmosphere between them was still tense, considering a lot of things had been left unsaid on their last encounter. He gestured to a nearby bench and they sat down. They soon, haltingly at first, developed a conversation on the most common topics and Naruto was glad to spend time with him like this. It was relaxed and calm and gave her the opportunity to figure him out.

She found out they had some very opposing views on several political subjects and Naruto learned he wasn't perfect. To spend every day with him, she would need to get to know him even more. Some shared history and a few hours talking wouldn't do the trick. They had a long way to go and nothing was decided yet. Yet, somehow, she was okay with this knowledge.

* * *

Thankfully things started to go uphill after that morning. Naruto redoubled her efforts concerning her training. Her team picked up pace as well and soon they again had that unique teamwork. The first two exam parts were finished with four Konoha Genin in the final round. Considering there were only eight participants, these were fantastic statistics.

Naruto had also taken to tutoring one of the Genin, Daisuke, who had a wind affinity. His teacher was focusing on his team mate, who also succeeded advancing to the finals and she couldn't help but feel pity for the abandoned student. She could already see fantastic potential in the boy of thirteen and gave him some pointers concerning his opponents. If only she knew what kind of fighting style to prepare for.

So, being busy because of duty, training with her team and working with Daisuke the month long preparation time flew by and**,** before she knew it, Naruto was faced with only one day left.

She spent the afternoon with her team sitting in a deserted clearing. They sat in a triangle, but facing the woods around them. Seals were drawn to the ground, vast rings of runes connecting them. The circles around them glowed blue with chakra and the air almost crackled with the subtle electricity.

Team 7 was charging. In preparation for the expected trouble Naruto had developed various seals for chakra sharing, connection and batteries. The rituals they went through had been exhausting physically and mentally for all of them and almost every seal was based on Naruto's reserves. So for weeks she was saving chakra for an all out confrontation.

This was the last one before the exams. It developed a stronger mental connection between the members of Team 7, giving them even more superior teamwork should they need it.

This work was mostly for what came after or during the exams. The spar match would be challenging, but if anything went wrong – and the rumours were leading to that conclusion – Team 7 still had to protect the Hokage.

"Level 2, success. Advance to 3. Ready?" Naruto's voice was strained, the next stage of the seal contained a highly emotional sharing between them and everyone was bound to reveal more of him or herself than normally comfortable. Only this way the required trust could be built and the telepathic connection could develop. It would still be weak, but Naruto knew wordless communication could give them the upper hand in timing.

"Ready." This was Sakura. She sounded close to tears as she let the required memories go and opened up for the others.

Sasuke and Naruto were almost drowned in the whirlwind of self-doubt, curiosity, despair, happiness, loneliness and confidence. The only thing keeping them stable throughout the process was the trust Sakura put in them not to mess with her most private thoughts.

They felt like Sakura felt, her thoughts were theirs.

_ Mommy and Daddy fight._

_ The boys laugh about my hair. _

_ Mommy doesn't want me to become a shinobi. _

_ Sasuke is so cool. _

_ Kakashi-sensei, what shall I do? I don't know how to act in combat._

_ Why am I not respected in the academy, is it because I'm a civilian?_

_ I made Chuunin, now Ino will see! _

_ Sensei, look at me, I know I'm not Sasuke, but still... _

_ Chakra control, this is something I'm very good at. _

_ Ino and me grew apart, she won't acknowledge my progress._

_ The first person I killed, blood on my hands._

_ My team is there for me, Sensei, Sasuke... Naruto._

Naruto stopped the flow and all of them panted. Sakura was crying. Both of the others sent her comfort over the mind link.

"I liked the last one.", Naruto said quietly after a while. "We need to proceed."

Sasuke started the opening.

_ Father only looks at Itachi._

_ Kakashi has the Sharringan, he can make me stronger._

_ Father betrayed the village, ni-san said. He is disgusting._

_ The girls in the academy are so annoying._

_ I can't find friends. They only see the Uchiha crest on my back._

_ My team is incomplete, now we'll never get high-ranked missions._

_ Itachi-nii-san will train with me today, he finally spends time with his little brother._

_ This girl is much more stronger than me, who is she?_

_ Kaa-san just isn't the same anymore. I believe loosing o-too-san broke her._

_ Sakura finally grew up, I'm so relieved._

_ I will protect my team._

_ I hate the disdain I face, the villagers are afraid of the Sharringan._

Again Naruto stopped the flood of information. She was hesitant to reveal her memories after the others already went through so much stress.

"Naruto, are you ready?" Sakura asked in a weak voice.

"Are you sure, you'll handle another person? This is very exhausting for you. Normally this sealing is only for two people."

"We need to go all the way through. It would have been useless otherwise. That's what you said." Sasuke's determination flooded the mindlink.

"I could seal now and you two would have the connection. I would be left out, but we'd manage."

"No!", Sakura shouted out loud and also in Naruto's head. "We are a team, we need you! It has to be the three of us." Naruto felt both their decision. This was hard for her as well. She never completely opened up to others. There was always something she was holding back. Also, she was sure the others would be shocked.

Inhale, exhale.

"Fine, prepare." Pause. "Open!"

_ Despair._

_ Loneliness._

_ Pain._

_ Blood._

_ Sadness._

_ Disgust._

_ Fear._

_ Humiliation._

_ Exhaustion._

_ Grief._

"Stop!" Sakura's shout ripped through the clearing. Tears were streaming down her face, her breathing laboured. She trembled. The emotions coursing through her had been like electricity, inflicting almost physical pain.

Sasuke had become rigid. His eyes were wide and he stared into nothingness. Naruto retrieved her memories and left the others time to sort out their feelings.

"This was... horrifying. Naruto... you... I am so sorry." Sakura's voice was hoarse and she reached behind her back and grasped Naruto's hand. Naruto ignored her apology, but soaked up the empathy dripping through her body.

"I'm sorry, I should've warned you, the first few years were quite troubling. I should have filtered it a bit."

"It was much more abstract than our memories.", Sasuke analysed, not able to discuss what he had felt further. "Why's that?"

"It's because the memories are blurred. The feelings are so intense, they pushed out the pictures. Also they are a child's memories, they work differently." Naruto's explanation both soothed them and terrified them. "We should stop, don't you think. I'll seal now."

"Wait, let us see the rest.", Sakura blurted out. "We can handle it. Really, we need to see... see that..." _that you are okay now._ She left that part unsaid. "However, you need to show us. Right, Sasuke?"

"Let's do this." Naruto's heart swelled at their trust. She pulled out her last bit of courage.

"At your own risk. Open!"

_ I never really did anything wrong, why can't I shop in this store?_

_ I love ramen, this is so tasty. Teuchi-ji-san is the best._

_ Who am I? Who were my parents? At least I still have Ji-san._

_ I need to train, be stronger, they can't hurt me then._

_ I can't die here! Inu is relying on me._

_ Hokage-ji-san believes in me, I can't disappoint him._

_ All this blood. Is that being an ANBU?_

_ Konohamaru made Genin. I'm so proud of my baby brother._

_ I know I can always count on Neji, now that he learned this destiny thing is crap._

_ I'll kill all, murder them! I'll hurt them, make them beg! They will soak in blood!_

_ Jounin! This is surely a step in the right direction._

_ Come on, fox, I need more chakra._

_ Kakashi-senpai said he wanted to take a Genin team. Am I not good enough?_

_ Jiraya-sensei, what is peace?_

_ Gaara and I are the same... what does that make us?_

_ Team 7, next Sannin? Ji-san really believes in us!_

"Seal!" Blue chakra flared up, the clearing was drenched in white light. Then silence.

* * *

Team 7 lay on their backs, their heads almost touching, the feet creating an odd three pointed star. The grass around them was burnt and covered in ink and blood from the seal. The scroll next to Naruto was slightly singed.

All three youths had their eyes closed, sweat clinging to their foreheads, teartracks down their faces, but their features relaxed.

"Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"We won't leave you alone. You won't have to suffer like this ever again."

"Thank you, Sasuke." Pause.

"I won't let anything happen to you either, we're a team now. This is family."

When the three went to bed hours later, they did it with the knowledge they had somebody they could always rely on. This _truly_ was family.

* * *

The next day came with a startlingly beautiful display of snow. Giving all water and ice users the ideal advantage.

"Did I think it possible, I'd believe the Mizukage made it snow." Naruto grudgingly declared as Team 7 had breakfast.

"I definitely agree. Good thing you use water element, I'm already envious." Sakura helped Sasuke tighten the chest armour and tie the long sword he had received from Naruto. One day after training in Konoha, she had him try the blade out once and he was a natural. She now carried the short ninjato, since she had gotten better with controlling the wind element as a blade. It could now extend in seconds, giving her a perfectly unpredictable weapon.

"We have the water repelling seals on our shoes, they should do the trick to not get us frozen to a spot." Naruto started braiding Sakura's hair. Their routine now came easy, even getting ready was a practised motion.

"Do you think we'll encounter bloodlines? I heard wielders of a Kekkeigenkai were persecuted ten years ago."

"Heard? More like read." Naruto chuckled. "But it's true. They thought of it as unnatural. Some survived though and the current Mizukage recognized their worth. Thusly we can fight with one. And the rules regarding this is-"

"Not all of us can fight it, until we have figured it out. Yes, Uzumaki-sensei! We know!" Naruto sighed.

"I really drilled you, didn't I?" The following stares were more than telling.

Finally the team proceeded to the arena. Like everything in Mist it was pompous. Instead of a simple stadium, a cave was carved beneath one of the mountains. It was vast and the fighting space was comfortably ample for enough legroom. To cover all the elements there was a small group of trees, a lake and a hill. The stands were protected by thick glass and Naruto could see several strengthening seals. She considered this a good idea, but also an omen that things would get ugly.

"Welcome Ladies and Gentleman to the annual Chuunin exam finals! After years again held in Kirigakure, with participants from Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, Suna and of course our own wonderful village." The spectators cheered and even from their box, Naruto felt the expectations and emotions.

"We have eight young Genin who advanced to the final round and certainly not all of them will be promoted. Before we start the first match with two eager Konoha shinobi, we have special treat for you today. Hokage-sama from Konoha arrived weeks ago with three unknown bodyguards. They are not from the infamous ANBU ranks and their masks continued to confuse. Now the Kage agreed on a friendly match with one of our teams to find out what they've got." The audience was now almost silent.

"So please welcome our team. Jounin and ninjutsu specialist Kuroga Nemo; Sasuma Hikaru, Chuunin and weapon expert and finally Hana, two-times winner of the Miss-Kiri-Kunoichi contest and established Chuunin! Meet Team Mist!"

While the crowd went wild, Sakura looked at Naruto.

"They tell us their strengths beforehand?"

"This may be fake, we must be prepared for 180 degree turn." The other two nodded.

"And now their opponents. I would love to tell you more, but information on these three is sparse. At first there is the lady with the pink hair, under the codename Puma. Then we have Panther, the petite blond, and the male with the sword is Tiger. We know from secured source that all three of them are now 16 and two of them are Chuunin, while one of them is active ANBU. So give them a cheer!"

Sasuke went ahead and the girls followed him. They were met with a tad of suspicion, but mostly curiosity. The crowd was unable to assess these masked strangers.

They went to the space below the Kage-box and greeted their Hokage by kneeling down. The Mizukage rose from her seat after she shot Sarutobi an inquiring look.

"I welcome everyone to Kirigakure and these exams! I hope you will enjoy the display of shinobi skills, knowledge and wit we hope to see today! As for the rules, there are none, winner is the last one standing, conscious or in a superior position. All have the right to forfeit. Otherwise, this is a reconstruction of real conditions. Behave like you would in the field.

"I wish all of you the best of luck. Proctor!"

A tall woman stepped into the arena. She had her thick grey hair pulled in a high ponytail and amber eyes that looked sharply at the teams from Kiri and Konoha.

"Get into position." Team 7 and Team Mist positioned themselves across from each other.

_ Remember, they can't know what we are able to do_, Naruto's voice rang in the other two's head. _They know as little as we do. _A slight nod from both was her response.

_ Ready, Sasuke, Sakura?_

_ Yes, captain!_

The proctor smiled slightly as she saw the tense muscles and ready postures.

"BEGIN!"

And the chaos began. Team Mist had jumped back and obviously expected Team 7 to do the same. It was almost standard procedure. You just never ran in head-first, when faced with an unknown enemy.

But Naruto had decided to use this to their advantage. When the others jumped back they gave up their footing. Team 7 now charged forward with light speed, curtesy of the weights Naruto had them wear. Sasuke pulled his sword perfectly in sync with Naruto, attacking the wings. Now the three mist ninja were closer together.

Sakura charged at the one in the middle, covered by her teammates. They were in mid-air, flying. When it looked like she would punch him though she pushed herself off his shoulders and landed behind the others. She rammed her fist in the air and everyone heard "Doton: Earth spikes!". Naruto shunshined away, picking up Sasuke on her way. Then the air was filled with giant rock hard spikes.

Team 7 landed in front of the field, as Team Mist came climbing out of the debris, looking already a bit shaken up.

"We warn you." Sasuke stepped forward. "We don't do things halfway. Raiton: Chidori!" His right arm glowed blue and then the sound of birds chirping could be heard. He ran forward, Sakura falling into step behind him, fist green.

_ The wire is set_, Naruto's voice rang out.

"Time to break up your formation!", Sakura shouted and crashed right in the middle of Team Mist, briefly touching the woman on the left shoulder.

_ Gen-jutsu! The female uses it!_ This was Sasuke, his Sharingan activated.

"Kai!" The world fell into shards around them revealing Sakura standing motionlessly in front of Team Mist.

"Protection Barrier, type 2!" Naruto's shout helped her shaking of the remains of the illusion. A giant wave hit the solid air in front of her, but her right arm was numb.

_Senbon_, Sasuke offered.

_ Formation 7._ This was Naruto's order and helped cover Sakura's right side until she was clear again.

* * *

Gaara sat next to Kankuro as the watched the match.

"This is definitely impressive.", the puppet master blurted out, and the Raikage agreed.

"Yes I believe I picked a good team." The Mizukage added forcefully.

"Not to upset you, Terumi-dono, but they are completely played. The Konoha Team rules this match." It wasn't like the Raikage to be careful with words.

"I was talking about heavy-assault and they really do the trick." The Hokage was obviously pleased with the presentation. "What do you think, Gaara-san?" The redhead looked intently at the teams who now exchanged fierce taijutsu. His eyes though, always tracked the small woman with the blond hair. She was moving like a dancer, though a very dangerous dancer.

"I haven't seen a demonstration like this before. It's like they read each others minds. They came a very long way since I saw them in spring." And more quietly he added: "She's amazing."

Only the Hokage and Kankuro had heard it. While the old man had a very knowing smile on his lips, Kankuro began to hope his brother might develop real feelings for the kunoichi.

"I can't help but agree, Gaara-san. Quite unique, isn't she?" The jinchuuriki nodded and the others looked at them curiously. Some had the feeling the conversation wasn't just about the team anymore.

* * *

_ Time to drop the bomb_, Naruto thought after she countered the Jounin's bloodline limit, sending him to the ground with ease. The team was mostly defeated. Only the woman had a strange invisibility jutsu that was combined with genjutsu and made it hard to hear or even smell her. But Naruto had a plan ready that covered that problem.

"Fuuton: Dance of the falling Leaves!" Sakura and Sasuke had already seen this jutsu in Suna, when Naruto had a spar match against Kakashi. Back then roughly the area around her opponent was filled with the blueish chakra leaves. But it had changed. Now the whole arena was glistening with the chakra.

Naruto began to move. Gracefully but with deathly precision, she danced. The leaves followed her movements, the whole air moved. It was not like a storm, much more subtle instead.

The wind was soft to her teammates but when it suddenly found the solid piece of air that was the invisible enemy it changed. The seemingly harmless little leaves became as sharp as millions of razorblades.

Soon enough tiny blooddrops fell to the ground and then the illusion fluttered, trembled and crumbled down.

"Sakura, go!", Naruto called and the next second the two-times winner of the Miss-Kiri-Kunoichi was out cold.

This made the three members of Team 7 the last ones standing. The crowd was too baffled to show any reaction immediately.

Naruto raised her hand and Sakura and Sasuke appeared behind her. They walked to the Kage-Box and Naruto spoke.

"Mizukage-san, we hope you are content with the match." They all bowed slightly. "With your permission, we now take our place as Hokage-sama's guards again." The Mizuage gave a curt nod that already betrayed her anger about the situation.

Naruto engulfed her team in a whirlwind of leaves, vanishing, and reappeared behind the Hokage. Sarutobi turned slightly. His face was blank, but Naruto could read the eyes. They clearly said: "Show-off." She chuckled soundlessly. He knew how much she enjoyed fighting with her team.

A seat further next to him was Gaara, who also tilted his head a bit. He had become better at reading her body language that was now on-alert, but she knew her team had her back. He unconsciously touched the shard around his neck. He saw her hand move into her pocket, grasping something.

She pulled her hand back out and opened it palm up.

It displayed a white and blue shard of porcelain.

He stopped breathing, looking at the object. He knew this meant something, something absolutely significant. But he couldn't remember, what was happening? He slumped forward.

* * *

Thank you to all my kind reviewers, and those who follow the story, may your patience have paid of and I hope you liked this chapter. I know I'm not the fastest, but I am proud I picked up the story again.

By the way, I am aware of my inablility to write out decent fight scenes. I shorten them as much as possible, but they are necessary, so please bear with me.

See you soon, Cold Moon


	7. Chapter 6

So are you ready for the epic ending. Even though I just sent the chapter to my beta yesterday, it was back in the blink of an eye.

So be grateful for this one ;)

I find myself in a creative high, probably because I'm sick at home. Well enough to be bored, but not up to school yet.

The epilogue will be up soon as well

Please know that this chapter took a lot of thought and I am happy with it now. I hope it will touch your heart, because I put a lot of feeling in it.

I don't own Naruto!

* * *

There are moments you realize you just don't play in fate's league. Sometimes forethought is completely wasted. You can prepare all you want and in the end it's meaningless.

Weeks of training crumbled right in front of Naruto's eyes as she saw the vacant look in the others' eyes, witnessed the stadium cave in. They had thought about a Gen-jutsu attack and here were dozens of trained shinobi, all staring into nothingness. They had considered explosives and yet hundreds were buried under tons of rubble. All pondering on the subject of treason was now useless, for Terumi Lana now stood over the unconscious body of her sister, an insane smile on her lips and a crazed look in her eyes.

That Naruto had evaded the jutsu had been more of a lucky coincidence. The chakra leaves from her last move still clung to her body, the wind element shielding her from the foreign waves. The distraction she had with Gaara could have broken her neck. She looked at Sasuke, who twitched with his index finger. _I'm awake._

_ You can count me in._ This was Sakura.

Oh, how she loved this team. They had her back and were fast on the uptake. Now the three of them were the only ones standing between their Hokage and the woman, who had betrayed them all.

_ Sakura, I want you to check on the Mizukage as soon as you see an opportunity, we can't loose her here!_ Naruto began assessing the situation more carefully. She desperately wished for Neji or another Byakugan, something felt wrong about Terumi. The eyes, Naruto decided. This was pure madness. Madness one only acquired due to great pain and being beyond exhaustion. What happened to the Mizukage's sister?

Boom!

Another explosion ripped through the air, time was running away like quicksilver.

_ Wake Gaara on your way to the Hokage, Sasuke._ Naruto began giving orders to her team. _I'll head for Terumi. Sakura get ready._

She darted forward catching the Mist-nin by surprise. She grabbed her around the neck and threw them over the railing of the Kagebox, out of sight.

Sasuke saw her fall before he even had been able to move. He pushed the instinct to marvel at Naruto's speed to a later point and made his way to Sand-jinchuuriki, swiftly sending his own chakra into the redhead's body.

Gaara stirred immediately and looked thoroughly confused.

"We are attacked, you were under a Gen-jutsu." Sasuke's explanation was curt, he had already turned his attention to his village's leader. He tried to ignore the urge to look for Naruto in the arena.

"Hokage-sama, are you all right?", he asked. "We need to leave the stadium. With the explosions around us the ceiling has become unstable."

The old man nodded. He had not fallen for the Gen-jutsu, being one of the strongest shinobi to walk the earth. Nevertheless he had been knocked back by one of the shock waves, flying rocks stopping him from coming to the Mizukage's aid. His eyes were still trained on the spot he had seen his granddaughter, in any aspect that mattered, jump.

How she confuses us all, Sasuke thought briefly, then touched the Hokage's arm to bring him back to reality. Sarutobi stood up and turned to the other Kage, the Raikage stepping up next to him.

"Let's go, old friend. I have a feeling something is waiting for us."

Now Sasuke did step towards the banister and searched the arena for his comrade, friend, sister and confidant.

He saw her, a dozen times. She was using clones. Buying time. Analysing her opponent. She only did this with very tough opponents, usually she came out untouched even if she charged in head first. A clone went in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke flinched inwardly. He did not think he could ever get used to her dying a thousand deaths all the time.

"Sasuke!" He turned to Sakura, whose green chakra engulfed the Mizukage. The woman had a deep gash in he right leg and one side of her face was covered in blood. She was now conscious, but delirious. "I need you to clean the wound on her head, I'm almost done repairing her kidneys."

Sasuke nodded and got to work. He already heard signs of exhaustion in Sakura's voice, they would soon have to release the seals.

"How's Naruto?" He could tell her question was meant to be casual, but she had failed pitifully.

"Working." He did not dare to distract her from the difficult task of restoring the Mizukage's internal organs. Apparently he also had not succeeded in appearing unworried.

"My sister is a strong kunoichi, you should aid your friend soon." The Mizukage looked up from her position on the dusty floor. "I thank you for healing me, but now you should save you strength."

"One should think Terumi Lana is not our responsibility.", Sasuke muttered, aware of his lack of respect, but not able to bring himself to care. He was worried for his friend and this woman behaved like she had any authority over them. The Kage had heard him. Shame rose to her face, mixed with fury.

"You're right, she is my sister, but first and foremost she is my subordinate. I should be the one fighting her." She became weary, her fierceness dissolved into nothing. "Our first priority though, is to evacuate the civilians and check for the bomber. She is not our only problem." To empathize he point another explosion echoed through the stadium. Then violent chakra flared up and even the Mizukage could not help but flinch.

"Naruto.", Sakura gasped. This was not the ninetails-chakra. Sasuke and her had experienced it during training so they would be prepared should Naruto use it in battle. But this was different.

"Maybe you should reassess your priorities." This came from Gaara, who stood at the railing, watching the proceedings. His face was unreadable to most, but Sakura caught the shadow of fear that lingered in his aquamarine orbs.

* * *

For Naruto, a shinobi with a mind trained for battle, the fall from the Kage-box was happening in slow-motion. She saw the surprise in Lana's features for a split second, calculated the distance to the ground, was aware of her speed and the knife moving towards her face.

In one swift motion she turned and kicked the kunai out of Lana's hands, delivering another blow to her gut and then using the momentum to reach the wall. She watched her opponent stop her fall by applying chakra to her hands and feet to stick to the stadium walls.

The two women's gazes met. Both equally determined and mutually dangerous.

"Who controls you?", Naruto yelled. "You would not betray your sister!" Pain flashed in the other's eyes again and Naruto read the wish for it to end in them.

"I will try my best to fulfil your request." And as Terumi Lana attacked again there was gratefulness even though she tried her best to harm Naruto.

"Thank you."

The fight picked up pace very quickly. Lana was more than capable in making Naruto sweat. Her attacks matched the ANBU's style in precision, potency and power. Only her amazing speed gave Naruto an advantage so far.

The two women clashed again, their kunai interlocking, chakra flaring. Naruto's left hand grabbed the ninjato. A swift slice, Terumi received a deep gash in her upper arm.

She looked at the wound, taking in the blood that oozed freely from the cut. Naruto looked as well. The red liquid... was not red. Naruto saw violet chakra laced through it. Evil chakra.

She mentally berated herself. Now that she knew what she was looking for, she clearly felt it. This woman was possessed. Something or someone, though Naruto clearly suspected the latter, had induced dark chakra into her blood flow for a long time.

"When?", she asked. This procedure had to be painful and was sure to take a lot of time. It would be difficult to let a prestigious shinobi such as the Mizukage's sister disappear just like that.

"I was on a long-term mission, alone. I was captured and he used my jealousy towards my sister to plant the seed. There is nothing I can do anymore."

Naruto felt pity for the woman, whose biggest flaw had been a slight inferiority complex. Now she was changed and whoever did this had damaged her beyond repair.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know!" Tears fell from the woman's eyes. "I spent months in his hands, but other than his voice I don't have a single bit of information." She suppressed a sob. "Please, panther, you need to end this. I have already caused too much damage. You have to kill me!"

Naruto nodded and again charged forward. She had every intent to end this, but she knew killing this woman, who begged for death, was almost impossible. She used her Ninjato to cut through muscle fibre, immobilising her opponent. Lana's counter-attacks were vicious, but Naruto had understood the way she moved and evaded danger more easily.

Finally Terumi Lana lay on the ground only a meter away from Naruto. The ANBU slammed a seal on the woman's forehead. The violet chakra began to retreat.

"This must be enough." She felt relieve for a second. Then the woman spoke up again.

"I told you to kill me! He still can use me."

What happened next would forever reside in Naruto's heart as one of the most gruesome sights she ever encountered. Terumi Lana exploded. The chakra in her veins expanded and burst away from her body, ripping of skin, bone, flesh. Blood splattered everywhere, as potent as an acid.

Before Naruto was pulled behind a sand-shield, a tiny drop touched the bare skin of her forearm, burning away everything.

Gaara materialised with her in the Kagebox, where the dangerous splatters would not reach them. In his arms he held a screaming Naruto. Really screaming.

Sakura looked up from the Mizukage's left leg and stilled, Naruto's scream still tearing through the air. She never thought her teammate was capable of such a sound. The strong, brave and enduring kunoichi. It was unexplainable to her.

Sasuke shook her out of her stupor.

"Focus!" He hissed harshly. "Now!"

The medic-nin scrambled to her friend and ran various diagnostic jutsu. She felt hot and took of her mask to be able to breath properly. Then her movements halted and she looked straight ahead, a blank look on her face.

"Sakura?" Sasuke's voice almost did not carry over their teammate's screams.

"It's pure poison to her body. I thought I could take the hand of but it has already spread. We're loosing her." The words were chopped and tasted like iron on her tongue. Sasuke also took his mask of and then proceeded with Naruto's, his movements so gentle, as if she might break.

"How long?" It was Gaara who asked. His eyes not straying from Naruto's face.

"Ten minutes at most." They fell into silence, the three young shinobi sharing their grief as the blonde in their middle still offered shouts of agony.

"Can't you do something about the pain?" Sasuke looked pointedly at Gaara for snapping at Sakura, but all he saw was a man who was lost. Even more than he himself.

Sakura though did not complain and deactivated Naruto's pain centre in her brain.

"Sakura, Sasuke!", Naruto gasped pitifully. The skin in her face was already wilting away like a old flower. The poison ran through her veins and cauterised the surrounding tissue. The sixteen-year-old looked like an aged woman. Sakura ran a hand through the blond hair, strands falling out loosely. She felt deep sorrow when their bond withered like plant starved of water.

"We're here, we won't leave." The ANBU's eyes were already glossed over.

"There is someone... a man... who inserts dark chakra into living people... You need to tell the Hokage-" She started coughing, blood running from her lips.

"We know Naruto, stay still. You're injured."

"No! Listen, he might attack! You need to warn the Kage..." Her voice trailed of as she felt her grasp on consciousness slip away. She willed herself to stay awake.

"Gaara.", she croaked. He looked at her, despair heavily clouding his aquamarine orbs. Sakura took his hand and put it on Naruto's cheek.

'She needs this now' was her whispered explanation. A few moments of silent communication seemed to pass between him and Naruto.

"You need to go now."

"And leave you? Not a chance." Sakura nodded in agreement to Sasuke's protest.

"No, she's right. We need to prevent further damage. We'll act in her name." Gaara had closed his eyes for a second. None of them found the power to say anything against it. Why deny her that last wish.

Reluctantly the three picked up the Mizukage and left the by now deserted Kagebox, knowing they had seen their friend, sister, companion and protector alive for the last time.

Sakura dully noted that there was nothing poetic about death. It wasn't romantic and no hushed words of love were exchanged before the dying one fell asleep peacefully.

It was dirty, cold and gruesome. This was about raw and harsh pain, nothing like the silent passing in romance novels. There were screams, arguments and everyone only had a very flimsy grip on his or her sanity.

The pinkette halted for a moment and gave in to the urge to turn again. On the dirty floor, next to rubble and dust, lay Naruto, her features almost destroyed, the masks of Team 7 at her side. This felt like a funeral. Team 7's funeral, Sakura's, Naruto's and Sasuke's funeral. Sakura was sure they would not ever be the same.

She concentrated on Naruto's chest, giving in to a loud wail as she saw the rise and fall of her ribcage had halted. This was final. This was it. And like the two young men she swore revenge.

* * *

As Gaara resurfaced from the underground arena he was welcomed with a sight similar to the stadium. A lot of the houses had crumbled down and smoke was rising from the ruins. There was chaos everywhere, people screaming for the loved ones, mothers searching in vain and shinobi dead on the ground.

"We need to find Hokage-sama.", Sakura said hoarsely. Gaara had heard her scream a minute ago and felt the same pain gripping his heart. He knew what she had realised, knew that Naruto had left the world. He was not calm enough to understand what that might mean to him, but his gaze searched his surroundings feverishly for a person to blame her death on. His mind was raw and sore from all the emotions her felt, craving for revenge and blood.

His eyes came to rest on a cloaked figure standing in the middle of the crowd, seemingly untouched by the insanity around him. He must have felt Gaara's enquiring look because he raised his head and stared at him directly. His pale lips stretched into a cruel smile.

"You!" Gaara ran towards him, throwing caution in the wind.

"Gaara-san!" He heard Sakura shout behind him, but paid her no mind. Naruto was gone, this was all that mattered. A spear made of sand appeared in his hand, arming him against the man he was sure robbed him of his friend.

The blade tore through the man's abdomen like butter. Gaara saw glinting golden eyes in the darkness of the man's hood, not at all put out by the fatal wound he now must experienced. And there was no blood.

"Sabaku no Gaara..." He spoke in a soft voice, making Gaara shiver slightly. "You come to avenge your fellow Jinchuuriki. What a waste." He stepped back, the spear ripping out of his stomach. Gaara looked at him with wide eyes. "Take this as a foretaste. I will end this pathetic world."

And he was gone.

Sasuke and Sakura stopped next to Gaara.

"Who-" Gaara cut Sakura's question of.

"This was him." The girl's eyes widened.

"You mean...?"

"Yes, he's the one that took... " He choked on the name. "her."

"I may spot him if he's still in the village, I memorised his chakra signature." Sasuke was as eager as Gaara to find that man.

"We..." Sakura's voice trembled. She had a hard time to voice out reason this time. "We should find the Hokage. It's not like we know anything about our enemy. He took Gaara's hit without even flinching. He may be very powerful." Sasuke nodded in defeat. He knew Sakura was right even though it pained him to death.

"I don't care. I will not sit back when he's the one who..." Sakura's hand was stopped by the sand. He looked at her fingers only inches away from his face. She had wanted to slap him.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare saying we don't care. When we loved her so much." Sakura let her hand drop, she had reached her breaking point. Sasuke caught her, when her legs gave in and guided her trembling form to the ground, keeping an arm around her.

"I..." Gaara was at a loss of words. They remained there for minutes, none of them moving. The chaos around them seemed to settle a bit. The attack had ended. Now all that was left was nothingness.

"Sakura, Sasuke, what's going on." They looked up to see the Hokage, Kankuro and a few ANBU walking towards them. They must have made quite a picture, Sakura crying and shaking on the ground, Sasuke, who usually showed little to none emotion, comforting her with a look of pain in his eyes that the Hokage's breath quickened. And Gaara. Gaara seemed so lost. Confused, furious, sad. He appeared to be ready to leave this world.

"What happened? Where's Naruto?", the old man inquired further, already dreading the answer.

Sakura let out a moan of pain and raised her head to look at the village leader.

"..." She failed to form words and tears poured from her eyes.

"Sasuke! What. Happened." The black haired man shook his head.

"We're sorry. She... She was poisoned. There was nothing we could do."

Sakura was the perfect picture of misery and guilt. "When we left she had already stopped breathing. We did not want to leave, but she..." The Hokage seemed unable to comprehend this statement and gripped Kankuro's arm, who had not moved his eyes from his little brother. Never before had he seen him like this.

"Where is she?", Sarutobi asked. Sasuke gestured to the entrance of the underground stadium.

"The Kage-box." All of them looked at the small building that housed the staircases.

Another explosion ripped through the air and the ground shook. Before their very eyes the earth caved in, exactly where the arena was. The last detonation had been to much for the pillars.

"Naruto!" Sakura jerked in the direction of the entrance, screamed hoarse already. "No!", she croaked.

All of them understood her alarm. Now Uzumaki Naruto's body was buried in the ruins.

Gaara felt a teardrop fall from his eye, but this time there was no Naruto smiling at him under the silver moonlight of the desert. This time he felt more alone than ever. This time the small drop fell to the ground and was left to be frozen by the cold winds of Kiri-Gakure.

* * *

It was hours later. Night had long fallen on the battlefield that was once a village. The civilian deaths had reached impossible numbers and the material damage had not yet been assessed. While the Mizukage had begun working from her sickbed in organising her village, the delegations from Suna, Iwa, Kumo and Konoha had assembled for a meeting. All of them looked worse for the wear, eyes tired and filled with pain.

They all sat around a large table, Sakura and Sasuke flanking the Hokage. Even though they had replacements masks, both had left their faces bare. They had been unable to even think about putting on the symbols for their unity, now that they were incomplete. Sarutobi had not said a word otherwise.

So far they had been unable to dig for her body, the rescuers concentrated on the stands where they hoped to find living people. Except for a dead body the Kage-box had been empty, so this didn't even reach any priority list.

"We received an open declaration, we should start to prepare.", the Raikage said now. They had talked about the events at first and now reached the subject of the war that the cloaked figure had announced to the Kage. They did not doubt the threat, considering the damage done to the Hidden Mist today.

"What about an alliance?", Sasuke spoke up. He normally was not supposed to speak in such meetings, but him and Sakura had taken up the post of the Hokage's advisers.

"This never worked in the past." The shinobi from Iwa looked at the Konoha ninja disdainfully. After the last war their relationship had only progressed to forced politeness and a situation like this left everyone's nerves raw.

"I second the idea.", Gaara said. "This is not a problem of national concern. We faced a person who was willing to start war with five nations at the same time. One has to be very sure before even thinking about such an idea."

"That is a valid aspect. I recommend a Kage summit." The Raikage offered in order to sooth the Iwa delegation, whose Tsuchikage was not present. It also gave Suna more time to elect a Kazekage.

"We need to include Kiri-Gakure. They will be eager to repay the damage."

"We don't even know what will happen. Will we face an army? Will our enemy have a secret weapon? What is their aim? Before we gather every village must send out spies. We need more information. We don't even know where they come from." The Raikage was quick to set plans in motion, giving everyone the feeling of a set task. None of them wanted to let the dread that uselessness left behind, linger.

They concluded the meeting soon after, all the village leaders needed to be with their shinobi now, sooth pain, give comfort.

Gaara and the last of Team 7 remained.

"I am aware you will leave tomorrow and only a small number of Konoha shinobi will stay longer. I just want you to know... I will look for her." He spoke quietly the words they needed to hear. They must be torn apart to not have the body of their teammate to bring home.

Sakura approached him and shakily put her arms around him. He stiffened at first, but relaxed as her warmth surrounded him.

"Thank you Gaara. I am happy she had a friend like you." Her shaky voice clashed with the comfort her words gave him. He could not understand yet. Naruto would explain it to him, he thought.

He looked at Sasuke. The young man had gained a steely countenance. His expression was passive, but the eyes held a cold passion. He nodded at Gaara, indicating his thanks.

Sakura loosened her grip and stepped back to stand next to Sasuke. Her eyes were dry, the emerald orbs dark with determination.

"We'll see you soon." She was strong, Gaara acknowledged as they left, they both were. Naruto's fire burned in them. She had not deserted this world. She was alive in all of them.

His face settled in a grim expression. You gave us so much, now it's time we make you proud.

* * *

Another one down. Please wait for the epilogue. It will be uploaded at the same time as the prologue of the sequel.

Thank you all for those lovely reviews, I love them 3

Stay tuned.

Love you all, Cold Moon


	8. Epilogue

Just a shot piece of epilogue. Enjoy this.

I don't own Naruto!

* * *

Epilogue

The delegation that returned from Mist was greeted with sombreness. Six dead bodies were carried through the large gates. The Hokage stood to let them pass the entrance first. A small gesture of respect that seemed so ridiculously insignificant in comparison to the sacrifice each of the dead gave to their village.

Then Sakura and Sasuke followed the caskets, the girl carrying a photography of Naruto.

Sarutobi's heart constricted in sadness. He lost his girl. And now Konoha was on the brink of war.

_ Forgive me, Minato, Kushina,_ the old man thought. His bones ached and it was not because of the dark clouds looming overhead. _How can things be fixed now?_

* * *

In another place a man weary of war put his cloak down to go where he was needed. Life was developing a new path for him. Around him lay the bodies of others, too firm in their beliefs.

A woman approached him.

"What will we do now?"

"Akatsuki does not exist any longer. We must eliminate this new threat."

* * *

Gaara stared at the piles of rubble, where he knew Naruto Uzumaki was buried beneath. His sand snaked from his gourd, gripping a larger boulder and lifting it away.

This would take forever, he knew, but he would not be able to rest before the girl was found.

Naruto.

His heart.

* * *

Elsewhere, a man stood in the opening of a cave, chakra swirling around him. A small girl, barely nine years old, sat at his feet, the dark brown hair in untidy curls. She wore a white dress that was smudged with dirt and her feet were coated with mud.

"I'm bored, let's play some more!"

The man nodded.

* * *

Th-thump.

Th-thump.

Th-thump.

* * *

This was Frozen Tears. Please leave a review to ell me what you think about it. Thank you to those who stuck with me all the way from 2010. It took a long time to finish this, I know.

Now please go to my profile or just click on this link

s/8717792/1/Decisive-Tears

to read the prologue of 'Decisive Tears' - the last part of my tears triology. Credit for the title goes to my beta.

Anyways, thank you for reading my story, I hope to see you soon in the next part :)

Love, Tears of the Cold Moon


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